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Implementation of a Reggio inspired approach at the progressive academy of Southeast Asia's Early Childhood Center

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Implementation of a Reggio inspired approach at the progressive academy of Southeast Asia's Early Childhood Center

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Content Running head: IMPLEMENTATION OF A REGGIO INSPIRED APPROACH 1

IMPLEMENTATION OF A REGGIO INSPIRED APPROACH
AT THE PROGRESSIVE ACADEMY OF SOUTHEAST ASIA’S
EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

by

Lauren H. Bokaer

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2018

Copyright 2018 Lauren H. Bokaer
IMPLEMENTATION OF A REGGIO INSPIRED APPROACH

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Acknowledgements
I want to thank the administrators, teachers, and instructional assistants in the Early
Childhood Center at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA) for trusting me with their
words and work. You are such passionate, engaged educators, and your voices matter.
This dissertation study would not have been possible without the thoughtful connection
and collaboration between PASA and University of Southern California (USC). I never imagined
I would be able to teach full-time and get a doctorate. I am truly grateful for the opportunity
these organizations provided. You have changed the course of my life.
I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Larry Picus, for his constant optimism, guidance, and
the “big-picture” lens he gave to this process. Thank you to Dr. Ruth Chung and Dr. Alan Green
for their invaluable feedback during the writing process.
A special thank you goes to those in my life who kept me going through this three-year
journey; to the friends who remained friends although I disappeared; to my mother for her
undying belief in my ability as a human being; to my father who always encourages me to “have
fun” with the work; to my sister and stepmother who listened; and to my mother-in-law for her
constant insight and encouragement. And then there is my other half, my light and love: thank
you for the positivity you bring to my life. Thank you for your inspirational quotes, for dance
parties, for picking me up when I did not think I could keep going, and for showing me that the
journey is not so very long if I just take the first steps. Thank you for walking that path with me.
Lastly, I dedicate this paper to Baby Bokaer, who will join this world soon. You gave me
the last bit of motivation I needed to complete this task on schedule. I hope your dad and I can
continue to work towards making this world a better place for you and all children, and that you
might someday join us in that work.
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Table of Contents

Chapter One: Overview of Study .....................................................................................................8
Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................10
Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................................................11
Importance of the Study .....................................................................................................12
Limitations .........................................................................................................................13
Delimitations ......................................................................................................................13
Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................14
Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................15
Organization of the Dissertation ........................................................................................15

Chapter Two: Literature Review ...................................................................................................17
Current History and Context of Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia .........................17
Loris Malaguzzi and the History of Municipal Schools in Reggio Emilia .......................19
Reggio Inspiration ..............................................................................................................25
Frameworks and Values of Reggio Municipal Schools .....................................................26
Critique and Questions of the Reggio Emilia Approach ...................................................57
PASA and Reggio: Conclusion ..........................................................................................59

Chapter Three: Methodology .........................................................................................................62
Participants and Sampling Procedure ................................................................................62
Instrumentation ..................................................................................................................65
Data Collection ..................................................................................................................67
Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................69
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................70

Chapter Four: Findings ..................................................................................................................71
Participants .........................................................................................................................72
Early Childhood Center at the Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia ..........................74
Themes and Findings .........................................................................................................75
Research Question 1 and 2: Underlying assumptions and day-to-day application
of the Reggio approach in the ECC at PASA. ................................................75
Research Question 3: How could practices be improved upon in the ECC at
PASA in order to reach the 2020 strategic focuses of excellence,
opportunities and holistic care? .....................................................................120
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................136

Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................140
Summary of Findings .......................................................................................................141
Implications for Practice ..................................................................................................144
Future Research ...............................................................................................................148
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................149

References ....................................................................................................................................151
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Appendix A: Individual Interview Guide for Teachers ...............................................................160
Appendix B: Individual Interview Guide for Instructional Assistants ........................................161

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List of Tables

Table 1: Focus Group Semi-Structured Interview Protocol ..........................................................66

Table 2: Summary Sample Data for Focus Groups ......................................................................72

Table 3: Summary Sample Data for Observations .......................................................................72

Table 4: Summary Sample Data for Interviews .............................................................................73

IMPLEMENTATION OF A REGGIO INSPIRED APPROACH

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Reggio Theoretical Framework and the PASA 2020 Strategic Focus ..........................16

Figure 2: Revised Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................76

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Abstract
This study outlines essential frameworks of Reggio inspiration based on literature from the
Educational Project of Reggio Emilia. The purpose of this study was to determine which Reggio
inspired frameworks were valued and applied by teachers and instructional assistants (IAs) in the
Early Childhood Center (ECC) at the Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA). The
study also sought to provide feedback for educators in the ECC, now four years into the adoption
of Reggio inspired values, as they work towards PASA’s 2020 strategic goals of excellence,
opportunities, and holistic care. Focus groups, observations, and interviews were conducted with
ECC teachers and IAs as a part of a qualitative research design. Transcripts were coded for key
words and phrases. Four themes emerged from the study: (1) there are six areas of alignment
between participant perceptions of the Reggio inspired frameworks in the ECC at PASA, and
their day-to-day practices of that work; (2) concept-based learning is one potential area for
growth for the teacher and IA Reggio inspired practice in the ECC; (3) instructional assistants
(IAs) experience limitations in their work environment that affect their capacity as Reggio
inspired educators; and (4) inclusive education is a potential area for policy reform at PASA.
This study highlights areas for further consideration and growth as the ECC works towards the
2020 goals of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care. The study also proposes frameworks
that can be used by educators in other settings to examine their Reggio inspired practices.

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CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Early childhood education (ECE) can act as a pivotal part of children’s lives. In providing
high quality early childhood programs, societies invest in possibilities for their young children,
which act as a human capital investment (Duncan & Magnuson, 2013). Early childhood
education provides short term gains in cognitive ability for students, including advanced reading
and math skills, in addition to potential long term gains in school achievement, high school
graduation, reduced involvement in crime, and reduced mortality rates (Barnett, 1995; Deming,
2009; Lee, Zhai, Brooks-Gunn, Han, & Waldfogel, 2014). Humans are social beings, and early
childhood care provides an important context for children to develop early social skills. Studies
show ECE programs have an impact in later social abilities as well as potential to increase
number of friendships and decrease rates of depression (Biroli et al., 2017; Duncan & Magnuson,
2013). Early childhood programs also have substantial economic effects on a society, as the
impact of increased graduation rates allow for more skilled adults entering the workforce
(Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 1999). Some studies do show fade-out over time of ECE effects on
children, possibly due to quality of elementary education and family circumstances over time
(Duncan & Magnuson, 2013). Instead of this being an argument to reduce numbers of high-
quality ECE programs, this should actually be an argument for improved continuing education
and family services. With increased demand for early care, as more women enter the workforce,
the quality of early childhood education programs calls for more attention on a national level
(Dahlberg et al., 1999; Lee et al., 2014).
While it is clear that ECE plays a critical role for children, there is variance in how it is
valued across the United States, and programming often goes unnoticed and underfunded
(Barnett, 1995; Kaufman, M. J., Kaufman, S. R., & Nelson, 2015). The quality of programming
IMPLEMENTATION OF A REGGIO INSPIRED APPROACH

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also varies, as does the discourse on what is best for children in early childhood (Dahlberg,
Moss, & Pence, 1999). There are several common social constructions of early childhood
education. One is the school factory model, where young children are seen as vessels to be filled
with knowledge along an “assembly line” in accordance with their age; another is that of a
substitute home as more parents join the work force while their children are still young; a third is
that of a business or privately run institution providing a service to families (Dahlberg et al.,
1999). A less common construction of early childhood education is “as a forum in civil society
where children and adults engage in projects of social, cultural, political and economic
significance” (Dahlberg et al., 1999, p. 62). This construction invites wider community
involvement in dialogue about early learners and their needs, which can ultimately lead to
positive changes in the community. It presents the young child as a competent being who learns
from adults, but who can also present new and valuable ideas about the world (Rinaldi, 2006).
Many early childhood institutions in the United States follow one of the more common
constructions of ECE, leaving gaps for innovation in the field (Dahlberg et al., 1999). Many
educators, including renowned psychologist Howard Gardner and members of Project Zero, of
the Harvard Graduate School of Education, have turned to Loris Malaguzzi and the Reggio
Emilia schools for inspiration in quality early childhood education (Edwards, Gandini, &
Forman, 1993; Krechevsky, Mardell, Rivard, & Wilson, 2013). Over the past 60 years, the
schools in Reggio Emilia engaged in a “pedagogical experiment,” that provides an innovative
model of ECE for other settings (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 3). They also provide an example of ECE that
acts as a forum between adults and young children (Dahlberg et al., 1999). Schools around the
world have begun to take on Reggio-inspired values in their own early childhood programs
(Rinaldi, 2006). Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia, a large international school in
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Southeast Asia recently adopted this alternative conception of early childhood education.
By the year 2020, Pacific Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA) ambitiously seeks to
innovate all levels of education using a strategic plan (as cited by the organization’s website
1
).
The school intends to create a program that provides all students with academic excellence,
opportunities for personalized learning, and holistic care for social-emotional wellbeing. As a
part of this initiative, the Early Childhood Center (ECC) adopted a Reggio inspired approach to
teaching and learning. In the past three years the approach has taken shape, with major structural
changes and heavy investments on the part of the school. This adoption of the Reggio approach
introduced changes to the space, the teaching staff, and teacher roles with children and families.
Statement of the Problem
As the program evolves, a lack of clarity is surfacing around how the Reggio values,
assumptions, and frameworks have been implemented in the ECC at PASA in these first three
years. Teachers and instructional assistants (IAs), two critical stakeholders in this innovation,
have been asked to shift their own social construction of early learning, as the physical and
philosophical structures change around them. Formative assessment suggests confusion among
teachers and IAs about which frameworks of Reggio inspiration the school administration and
community value most, and how to implement frameworks they are not as familiar with. A
divide in training between the instructional assistants and the teachers, which causes in
philosophical confusion and variations in practice.
In striving for excellence, opportunities, and holistic care, the ECC must strategically
align frameworks inspired by Reggio Emilia Schools with the school’s mission and vision.
Walking through the beautifully constructed learning center with happy, playful, young children

1
Pacific Academy of Southeast Asia is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the organization in this study. As
such, a URL will not be provided.
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all around, one can see that some frameworks of Reggio-inspiration have been successfully
implemented. In examining the literature published by Reggio school professionals, and
constructing frameworks presented by their work, it is clear that other aspects of Reggio-
inspiration have not been strategically implemented in the ECC at PASA.
While the school undergoes voluntary outside accreditation through the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges every five years, there are no formative assessment
measures currently set to align the school’s strategic focus with Reggio frameworks in the ECC.
This mirrors a pattern in the United States described by Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016), in
which programs are implemented without formative assessment. Program directors find only
through summative assessment that the program is or is not meeting the goals it was intended to
meet, when it is too late to make changes. Often with goals unmet, these programs are
abandoned, and the quest for improvement continues with further investment in new
programming (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to conduct a formative exploration of how the Reggio
frameworks are being applied in the ECC in order to meet the three strategic anchors of PASA,
namely, excellence, opportunities, and holistic care. More specifically, the purpose was to:
• Gather data to understand the ways in which the ECC already met the 2020 strategic
focus for PASA.
• Explore the assumptions about the Reggio framework as they were practiced at PASA.
These assumptions were explored with two populations: the teachers and instructional
assistants of the Early Childhood Center.
• Observe how these assumptions were implemented in the center.
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• Make recommendations for the ECC to help them further implement their ideal
frameworks, as inspired by Reggio Emilia municipal schools, in their daily practice.
The research questions addressed by this study included:
1. What are the underlying assumptions of Reggio inspiration that are used in the Early
Childhood Center at Pacific Academy of Southeast Asia?
2. How are these assumptions and frameworks implemented in the day-to-day application of
the Reggio approach in the ECC at PASA?
3. How could practices be improved in the ECC at PASA in order to reach the 2020
strategic focuses of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care?
Importance of the Study
Many early learning programs adopt methods and frameworks without taking time to
evaluate how the frameworks are being implemented in their setting (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick,
2016). Most children at ages three and four are unable to advocate for themselves, so it is
educators’ duty to advocate for high quality early learning programs, particularly in international
settings where regulations vary.
The problem presented in this study is critical to all three anchors in Pacific Academy of
Southeast Asia’s strategic plan. The school plans by 2020 to ensure that every student achieves
academic excellence, that every student has opportunities for personalized learning, and that
every student is understood holistically and advocated for. When implemented well, the Reggio
frameworks encompass all three of these anchors. Without formative assessment, however, the
ECC at PASA may reach some of these goals but not others by the year 2020. This study will
help to establish what work the ECC has completed in their transition, as well as what needs
development in order to reach the 2020 strategic plan. Improved practice will ensure that
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students entering kindergarten from the ECC will be prepared to reach kindergarten standards as
well.
While qualitative studies cannot be generalized to other settings, educators looking to
apply practices from a Reggio inspired approach could use this study as a model for formative
evaluation of their programs or to see how frameworks from Reggio have been applied in the
PASA international school setting.
Limitations
Sample. This is a qualitative study, with a small sample size from one, specific location.
The experiences of the staff in the Early Childhood Center at PASA regarding Reggio inspiration
are unique to the setting. While not meant to be generalized to other populations, the data could
help to inform thoughts and decisions when implementing changes in other early education
centers.
Relationships. One limitation to the study is the already well established relationships
the researcher has with many of the teachers and instructional assistants in the ECC. The
researcher fully acknowledges the need to work carefully to examine bias based on prior
knowledge of the people and history in the ECC. These pre-established relationships may have
been a strength in gathering more reliable and accurate data, due to a level of trust that existed
prior to the study.
Delimitations
Timeframe. This is an implementation case study bound by a short data collection
timeframe (Creswell, 2014), from August to December of 2017. Data and analysis were
accessible shortly after collection (May of 2018) to be used within the school for formative
evaluations.
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Relationships. As the researcher is married to one of the preschool teachers in the ECC,
she will not study him or his classroom, or have him participate in the focus groups due to
possible bias.
Definition of Terms
Reggio Emilia is a small city set in Northern Italy. Due to the nature of the study, many
words that are used in the municipal schools in Reggio will also be used in the review of the
literature, as well as appearing in the dialogue of the teachers and instructional assistants in the
ECC. These words are defined below, as well as others that are pertinent to this study.
atelier: adopted from the French language into use in Reggio schools by Loris Malaguzzi,
referring to a fully stocked artist’s studio that the children have open access to use throughout the
day (Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 2011).
Atelierista: An educator with an arts background who works both in the atelier space and in
classrooms to help teachers with curricula or documentation (Edwards et al., 2011).
Pedagogista: Reggio schools do not have on-site program directors, and instead have floating
pedagogical coordinators who support multiple schools and teachers in many different ways with
curricula, documentation, or other pedagogical needs (Edwards et al., 2011).
personalized learning at Pacific Academy of Southeast Asia: one of the strategic anchors for the
2020 plan at PASA, which is defined by student-centered learning that meets each child’s needs,
while also providing time for students to explore and pursue passions and interests in a flexible
environment.
Progettazione: Used in Reggio schools and based on the word progettare, a verb used in
technical engineering in regards to the design process. Progettazione is the noun form describing
a process of educational planning and engagement of children in the classroom to help co-
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construct the process of the learning (Edwards et al., 2011). Co-construction of learning occurs
between teachers and children.
Reggio Emilia: A small city in northern Italy with a current population of about 170,000 people,
and a growing immigrant population arriving in the region for work.
Reggio Emilia Istituzione: the umbrella organization of 98 municipal infant-toddler (nido
d’infanzia) and early childhood schools (scuola dell’infanzia) (“Nidi e Scuole dell’infanzia,”
2017). In this study, the Istituzione network will be called Reggio municipal schools.
Theoretical Framework
In the review of the literature on Reggio Emilia preschools, eight important values or
frameworks emerged, including: (a) documentation; (b) the institution as a learning organization;
(c) the hundred languages of children; (d) the space as the third teacher; unique roles in Reggio
schools; (e) the image of the child as a capable being; (f) inclusion of family and community in
the school; and (g) ethical practices within schools. For the purpose of this study, these
frameworks are viewed through the PASA lenses of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care.
Figure 1 is designed to help visually organize these frameworks into the overarching PASA
strategic focus it best fits.
Organization of the Dissertation
There are five chapters in this dissertation. Chapter one discussed the context for this
study, its purpose and meaning, as well as definitions of terms particular to Reggio Emilia. The
strategic focus for Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA), with its pillars of
excellence, opportunities, and holistic care, were introduced. Chapter two reviews current
literature and describes recent changes at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia. It also
explores the history of the Reggio Emilia municipal preschools and outlines frameworks of
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Figure 1: Reggio Theoretical Frameworks and the PASA 2020 Strategic Focus

Reggio-inspired approach. Chapter three explains the qualitative methodology for the study, and
describes demographic information, instrumentation and data collection methods for a formative
evaluation of the Reggio-inspired program in the Early Childhood Center at PASA. Chapter four
reveals and analyzes the data and results. Chapter five provides a discussion of the data and gives
recommendations to enhance Reggio-inspired work in the Early Childhood Center.

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA) is a large international school located in
a bustling metropolis. PASA is a longstanding international school in Southeast Asia, with a
mission to provide students an excellent international education and a vision to become an
innovative institution that will prepare children for an unpredictable and rapidly changing future.
This literature review is organized in five parts. It will first cover the history of PASA, followed
by a history of the municipal schools of Reggio Emilia. It will then discuss what it means to be a
“Reggio inspired” school, and will then look at frameworks for Reggio inspiration as explored
through literature from Reggio educators and others in the educational field. The last section of
the literature review will examine counterpoints and critiques of the Reggio approach.
Current History and Context of Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia
A new superintendent came to Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia in 2012. The
board of PASA asked the superintendent to use his background in strategic thought leadership to
help the school achieve its vision of preparing students for a rapidly evolving future (as cited on
school website). As one of his first steps toward this goal, the superintendent and the PASA
Board established research and development teams in each area of the school: high school,
middle school, and elementary school, which includes the Early Childhood Center.
The Early Childhood Center Research and Development Team
During July, 2014, to June, 2015, the Early Childhood Center (ECC) Research and
Development (R&D) team visited schools and made recommendations. The team consisted of
one director of organizational development, the director of the Early Childhood Center, and three
preschool and pre-K teachers. The ECC director was also on the Elementary School (ES)
Research and Development team, and knew the ES team recommended inquiry-based work and
personalized learning. With this knowledge, the ECC R&D team visited nine innovative schools
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in Australia and New Zealand that aligned with the principles of inquiry and personalized
learning. In combination with the school visits, the team researched early childhood theorists,
and continually revisited Reggio philosophy.
Recommendations for the Early Childhood Center
In March, 2015, the ECC R&D team wrote a white paper outlining the adoption of a
Reggio Emilia philosophical approach for the center. The document cites the following values of
philosophy coming from Reggio Emilia schools: (a) the child as protagonist; (b) the child as
collaborator; (c) the child as communicator; (d) the environment as the third teacher; (e) the
teacher as partner, nurturer and guide (Edwards, 1993); (f) the teacher as researcher; (g)
documentation as communication and (h) the parent as partner. It further states the intention to
maintain a high caliber of education through professional development and hiring practices, to
use documentation as a way to report to parents, to have a Reggio inspired facility, and to align
with the desired student learning outcomes (DSLOs) at PASA. DSLOs at PASA consist of three
overarching categories, excellence, holistic care, and opportunities as well as seven specific
areas: content knowledge, character, communication, creativity, cultural competence, critical
thinking, and collaboration (as sited on the school website). The changes for the Early Childhood
Center were approved in 2015, and renovations began that summer in the preschool.
History of changes in the Early Childhood Center. In the 2014-2015 school year, the
ECC consisted of one preschool that held two sessions each day with 16 children in each class,
with one teacher and two instructional assistants (IAs). That year there were eight pre-
kindergarten (pre-K) classes, each with 16 children, one teacher, and one instructional assistant.
In the 2015-2016 school year, the center’s structural changes took root in the preschool. In
August of 2015, a brand-new glass-encompassed open-concept space, or “hub,” opened with
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three classes of 16 children, each with one teacher and one IA, in addition to a fourth “floating”
IA. In August of 2016, the entire center transitioned into glass hubs, each with two teachers, two
IAs, and two groups of 16 children (or 32 per hub), with two preschool hubs, and four pre-K
hubs. In the summer of 2017, the center’s playgrounds were modified to better reflect the
philosophical underpinnings of Reggio. This section aimed to provide an understanding of
changes occurring at PASA in the years precluding this study. The following section goes further
back in time to examine the creation and evolution of the municipal schools in Reggio Emilia.
Loris Malaguzzi and the History of Municipal Schools in Reggio Emilia
The news was true, and the truth was there, for all to see on this sunny spring day, in the
uneven but stubborn hammering of these two women. One of them looked up at me and
waited; I was a stranger, someone from the city, maybe they could tell from the part in
my hair or my low-cut brown shoes. “We’re not crazy! If you really want to see, come on
Saturday or Sunday when we’re all here. Al fom da boun l’asilo (we’re really going to
make this school)!”
–Loris Malaguzzi (Gandini, 2012b, p. 28)

Pre-World War II through the End of the War
Before one can understand the principles and philosophical views the Reggio Emilia
municipal schools and all that Loris Malaguzzi contributed therein, it is necessary to take a
contextual and historical perspective of the small city of Reggio Emilia. The longtime
pedagogista, and later pedagogical director of the municipal schools in Reggio Emilia, Carlina
Rinaldi, states that the school grew out of the socialist ideals alive in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries in Reggio Emilia (Rinaldi, 2006). It was in this setting that the first nursery
school, Villa Gaida, opened in 1912 under influence of the Socialist mayor of Reggio, who
Rinaldi states, “wanted a school that clearly expressed important ideas in socialist thinking—
education as a tool, a weapon against poverty, ignorance, arrogance; education as a tool for
freedom” (Rinaldi, 2006, pp. 178-179). In 1922, Benito Mussolini and his, later defined,
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totalitarian government came into power in Italy. The Socialist governor of Reggio Emilia was
replaced by a fascist Podestà, or official, in 1926 (Cagliari et al., 2016). The Villa Gaida nursery
school was shut down in 1938 under the fascist rule due to the socialist values it represented
(Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006).
Loris Malaguzzi was born in 1920, in Reggio Emilia (Cagliari et al., 2016). He began his
teaching career at age 19 in Sologno di Villaminozzo, a small village in the mountains near
Reggio, where he says “the most unfathomable, terrible and comic thing was to see how a novice
like myself and the astute wisdom of the old mountain folk succeeded in finding secret signals”
(Cagliari et al., 2016, pp. 20-21). It was here that he learned to invite play into his role as teacher
(Cagliari et al., 2016).
World War II seemed distant at first, but eventually Malaguzzi was called to work in the
barracks in Bologna (Cagliari et al., 2016). On January 8, 1944, Malaguzzi and his brother fled
their family home, as American bombs fell on the city. He recalls that he and his brother returned
to the house in the morning, only to find a heap of rocks, and states, “All we had were the clothes
we stood in” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 22). In the Spring of 1945, the war in Reggio came to an
end, and Malaguzzi describes that in the “chaos of those first days of freedom, news arrived that
in Villa Cella women and men, farmers and factory workers, doing everything on their own, had
decided to build a school for their children” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 23). With the building of
Villa Cella, Malaguzzi’s life was guided into education and activism with the Communist Party
in his home city (Cagliari et al., 2016; Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 2012; Rinaldi, 2006).
End of WWII through 1980
Both Rinaldi and Malaguzzi describe the Villa Cella school as a response to the violence
of WWII, and the possibility for a brighter future through education (Cagliari et al., 2016;
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Rinaldi, 2006). Villa Cella functioned as a “self-managed school dedicated to children…[and
was] not a part of the schema and philosophies of the time” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 24).
Malaguzzi became one of the first teachers in the school, working with parents and community
organizers to fund it and ensure its future (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Many people moved to Northern Italy for industrial work during the economic boom in
the late 1950s (Rinaldi, 2006). The movement of people and the changing landscape in women’s
rights brought a rising demand for government services, including provision of childcare for
working mothers (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006). By 1963, the Reggio government
responded to the pressure for services by establishing municipal schools, which moved the locus
of control of early childhood education away from the Catholic Church (Rinaldi, 2006).
Alongside his work in schools during this period, Malaguzzi studied clinical and educational
psychology in Rome, and co-founded the Centro Medico Pscio-Pedagogico Comunale or CMPP
[Municipal Psycho-Pedagogical Medical Center] which provided services to children with
special needs (Cagliari et al., 2016). He also began working with the international federation des
communautes d’enfants, a children’s rights organization, and was actively involved in theater
arts and summer camps for children (Cagliari et al., 2016). In Malaguzzi’s writings from this
time period, there are clear threads of philosophical underpinnings and values which would be
woven through time into the fabric of the Reggio schools.
The child as artist and the hundred languages of children. One of these values is
viewing the child as artist. Malaguzzi states, “waiting for the birth of an artist does not mean
waiting for a miracle from heaven…the conditions for an artist to be born and to develop can be
created” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 37). Malaguzzi also explored the ways that children express
themselves through artistic languages. In 1953, with the CMPP, he studied how children speak
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22
through art, and explained that the “evolution of children’s drawings runs parallel to the stages
and modes of their language development, of their acquisition of concepts, of their thinking, of
their progressive adaptation to and integration with new situations” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 42).
Inclusive practices and the rights of the child. In Malaguzzi’s writings for the CMPP,
there are also threads of inclusive practices for children with disabilities (Cagliari et al., 2016). In
1951 Malaguzzi states that “there is no side of a child’s complex being that can be hurt or injured
without affecting the rest…[therefore] education is no longer the art of teaching; in its broadest
sense it becomes assistance with the psychological growth and maturing of human beings”
(Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 41). He talks about how children are forced into “adult schema” through
a practice of education that is overly philosophical, and not tied to pedagogy and psychology that
match children’s “ways of seizing on things and phenomena…[which] is infinitely different from
adults” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 53).
Collaboration for the benefit of children. In writings from the CMPP and leaflets from
parent workshops, Malaguzzi described collaboration as essential to supporting the needs and
rights of the child. In 1954, he cited “team work between the paediatric psychiatrist, the
psychologist and the social worker” in order to support the whole child’s wellbeing (Cagliari et
al., 2016, p. 45). In 1958, he emphasized the importance of discovering the “real origins of
parental behavior, their character, their personality, [and] how they reflect the whole of societal
life” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 59).
In a speech delivered at a conference for “Relations between Psychiatry, Psychology and
Pedagogy,” Malaguzzi drew inspiration from Dewey, Rousseau, Montessori, “Gesell, Itard,
Seguin, Caparede, Wallon, Piaget, Gemelli…and the discoveries made by schools of
psychoanalysis, sociology and Gestalt, in particular by Lewin” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 71). He
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23
described schools as social settings, where children learn in groups from one another, as well as
pedagogy that values children’s social emotional growth and provides personalization for
developmentally appropriate exploration of interests (Cagliari et al., 2016). He stated that it is
“up to teachers to nourish the right ground where they can practice their work and respond to
children’s need for affection, knowledge and activity,” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 81), a thought
that may have led to the documentation work that teachers and children co-create in Reggio
schools to this day. Malaguzzi delivered this speech in March of 1963, and in November, the
first municipal school, “scuola comunale dell’infanzia Robinson Crusoe” opened under his
direction, “followed by a second school in 1964, named after Anna Frank, and a third,
Primavera, in 1968” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 95).
Growth in the 1970s. In the 1970s Northern Italy shifted further from Catholic preschool
programs towards secular, municipally funded preschools. In Reggio Emilia, 15 municipal
preschools opened, as well as the first asilo nido, or infant-toddler school (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Feminism was on the rise, and multiple laws were passed in this decade supporting women’s
rights, including pay raises for women, maternity leave, the right to divorce, and the right to legal
abortion (Cagliari et al., 2016). Malaguzzi used his influence in the region at this time to push for
higher standards of quality in secular and religious early childhood programs. In the Reggio
municipal schools, Malaguzzi helped to introduce the role of the pedagogista (or program
coordinator), atelierista (an additional teacher working in studio space within the school and
supporting pedagogy), the co-teaching model, and a heavy emphasis on the design of the school
space as important to the child’s development (Cagliari et al., 2016). These elements are
discussed in more depth in the discussion of Reggio frameworks.
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Growth in the 1980s. The 1970s had been marked by political turmoil and terrorist
attacks, but under the Socialist leader Bettino Craxi (who served in office from 1983-1987) the
country entered political and economic stability (Cagliari et al., 2016). Through mounting
tensions between church and state, the government reached an agreement with the Vatican in
1986 that all state schools would provide two hours of religious instruction each week (Cagliari
et al., 2016). For the Reggio schools, the 1980s opened the district to the world, and “The
Hundred Languages of Children” museum exhibition began touring throughout Europe, and
moved to the United States in 1988 (Cagliari et al., 2016; Gandini, 2012e). The exhibition
showcased the Reggio preschools’ documentation work with children and brought increasing
numbers of foreign visitors to the schools (Gandini, 2012e). Tours became more formalized and
included week-long workshops for study groups (Cagliari et al., 2016). Documentation became a
central focus in the sharing of children’s work both for visitors to the schools and through the
exhibitions now traveling the world (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Growth from the 1990s to today. The 1990s was a decade of political turmoil in Italy as
the economy slowed again. The decade saw the dissolving of the socialist and democratic “post-
war political order,” and a swing to more conservative politics with newly emerging political
parties including the Northern League (Lega Nord) and the Forward Italy Party (Forza Italia)
who took control of the government in 1994 (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 365). Visitors continued to
flock to Reggio to visit the municipal schools, and between “1994 and 2004, 112 study
groups…visited Reggio Emilia, [including] about 14,000 people from 79 countries” (Rinaldi,
2006, p. 121).
Malaguzzi died suddenly of a heart attack in 1994 having just entered his 70s (Cagliari et
al., 2016). He had been developing a new organization, which he named Reggio Children, that
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would organize the municipal schools and manage the growing number of visitors coming to
Reggio preschools (Cagliari et al., 2016). To this day the schools continue to develop and grow
upon the foundation Malaguzzi established for them (Cagliari et al., 2016). Malaguzzi’s search
for new theory of development never ceased, and as Cagliari (2016) states, “It is not possible to
find completeness or maturity reached in the journey of Loris Malaguzzi: his sudden death at
only 74…gives us…theories suspended between equilibrium and disequilibrium, between
continuity and discontinuity” (p. 367). Reggio educators, in this state between balance and
imbalance, continue to search for meaning long after Malaguzzi’s time (Gandini, 2012b). This
history provides a context to better understand how Reggio inspired learning changes over time.
The following section explores what it means to take on a “Reggio inspired” approach.
Reggio Inspiration
A Philosophy, Not a Method
Carlina Rinaldi (2006) provides extensive discussion with regard to why Reggio is
considered a place that inspires philosophy and not method. In her words, in examining the role
of the teacher in the municipal schools:
The task is not to find (and teach) a specific series of rules…or to teach a method that can
be replicated without modifications…So what is the secret? There is no secret, no key, if not that
of constantly examining our understandings, knowledge and intuitions, and sharing and
comparing them with those of our colleagues. (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 72)
Educators must consider their own contextual and cultural setting when trying to replicate
frameworks used in Reggio preschools. Rinaldi expresses concern in her exchanges with
educators from the United States and other English speaking countries for their efforts towards
standardization of the Reggio Approach (Rinaldi, 2006). Rinaldi explains her distress that
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visitors from these countries emphasize the need “to provide scientific proof that we are
functioning effectively” through evidence, or to “try and standardise our ways of working into a
programme: first of all you do this, then that, then something else” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 200). While
Rinaldi and Malaguzzi both resisted Reggio becoming a set of standards that other schools could
blindly implement, Rinaldi does acknowledge that there are methods to the work that they do in
Reggio municipal schools (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006, p. 163). The key then is to
understand Reggio schools as inspiration for action in one’s own community.
What Does It Mean to be “Reggio Inspired”?
If Reggio is not a method, what does “Reggio inspired” mean? Rinaldi explains that
Reggio has become a beacon of hope in the education world (Rinaldi, 2006). People visit
Reggio, or connect with Reggio inspired schools or coaches, in hope for a better model with
which to educate young children. In this way “Reggio makes room for people to dialogue, it
provides an excuse to do this” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 197). By entering this dialogue, teachers,
parents and school leaders begin to examine the values that Reggio brings forward. Many of
these Reggio-like values will be discussed in this paper, as well as relevant literature that
supports or refutes them, as a framework with which to examine Reggio inspiration in the
Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia.
Frameworks and Values of Reggio Municipal Schools
Each educator or researcher defines Reggio values through her own lens. For the purpose
of this study, the lens is a high performing international school setting undergoing transformation
in structure and philosophy. Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA), in its 2020
strategic focus, outlines three overarching goals, including excellence (high levels of learning),
opportunities (personalization of learning), and holistic care (social emotional growth and
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wellbeing). These PASA standards will act as overarching categories to examine Reggio
preschool frameworks in this paper. This will help to demonstrate how Reggio inspiration aligns
with current PASA values. As described in chapter one, eight frameworks emerged from Reggio
literature as core values. For the purpose of this literature review the following frameworks are
categorized under excellence: (a) documentation, and (b) the institution as a learning
organization; under opportunities, the frameworks discussed are: (c) the hundred languages of
children, (d) the space as the third teacher; and (e) unique educator roles; lastly, under holistic
care, the frameworks include: (f) the image of the child as capable being, (g) inclusion of family
and community, and (h) ethical practices within schools. Each framework is discussed in detail,
examining practices in Reggio schools that bring the values to life. In the final section, critiques
of the Reggio approach are discussed.
Excellence
Excellence at PASA is defined as high levels of learning for all students. It is an
extremely high achieving school. The third through fifth grade Measures of Academic Progress
(MAP) assessment data from 2016 show that PASA students score in the 94
th
percentile or
higher of all students who take the test (as cited in PASA’s annual report). Students in the ECC
are not tested, but there is a culture within the school of holding students to high standards.
Pedagogical directors for the Reggio Emilia municipal schools resist standardizing both the
education they provide, and the learning outcomes for children within the schools (Cagliari et al.,
2016; Rinaldi, 2006). In a speech from 1982, Malaguzzi explained:
the risk of a caged-in programme is that in some way it generates caged-in experience.
But this originality [in our work] is formed through a very long process, which is the
process of research, the process of curriculum project and planning, the process of
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controlled execution, of evaluative analysis of the results, and the process of decisions.
(Cagliari et al., 2016, pp. 295–296).
Although not standardized, it is clear through this statement that careful planning, reflection, and
care go into the education in the municipal schools in Reggio. Children are not measured on a set
continuum, as this could cage them in. How, then, are children observed and their work reflected
upon? This brings to light the careful work of documentation within the Reggio community.
Documentation. In the education world, documentation is often a term that references
the recording of a child’s learning through reports or end of unit assessments, or as Rinaldi
describes, “a tool [used] for archiving and/or for the subsequent reconstruction of journeys
already completed” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 174). Reggio, however, has crafted a unique form of
documentation, that occurs during the course of the study. It is not a summative act, but rather a
formative process of documenting, gathering, observing, discussing, redirecting, and sharing
with and about children and their learning (Cagliari et al., 2016; Edwards, Gandini, & Forman,
2011). Documentation helps in the process of what Forman and Fyfe (2012) call “negotiated
learning,” through which “the teachers seek to uncover the children’s beliefs, assumptions, or
theories about the way the physical or social world works” (Forman & Fyfe, 2012, p. 248). Fyfe
(2012) also describes it as “a procedure used to make learning visible, so that it can be recalled,
revisited, reconstructed, interpreted, and reinterpreted as a basis for decision making,” much as
Malaguzzi described the programatization (or progettazione) above (Cagliari et al., 2016; Fyfe,
2012, p. 274). Similarly, Rinaldi explains that documentation “enacted and interpreted during
research and not simply at the end, can guide the direction of the journey itself and encourage
relations between children’s learning structures and the subject of knowledge/learning itself” in a
kind of “reciprocal relationship” co-constructed by teacher and child (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 174).
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In many ways, documentation it is a form of social justice, often opening conversation
between the Reggio schools and the local community. Malaguzzi was very active throughout his
life in the political arena in regard to children’s and families’ rights to early childhood education
(Cagliari et al., 2016). One way he was able to open the dialogue with the community time and
time again was through inviting the public into the schools, or bringing the children to the public,
to share their learning (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Documentation as a meeting of theory and practice. In the Reggio municipal
preschools, documentation allows teachers to reflect on the learning that has occurred in a
setting, individually and in small groups (Rinaldi, 2006). Documentation is a meeting point of
the children’s actions and the teachers’ ideas and actions. It is both a history and a guide for new
learning (Rinaldi, 2006). In this negotiated learning, teachers focus on the learning concepts that
emerge, and not content specific content (i.e., dinosaurs) (Forman & Fyfe, 2012). The content
then, is a vehicle for the concepts, and the teacher “tries to identify…the curiosity, the anomaly
that drives the interest…not just to motivate the children but also to address their personal
questions” (Forman & Fyfe, 2012, p. 261). In this way theory and concepts pave the learning
pathway by revisiting documentation and creating next steps for explorations.
Kinds of documentation. Documentation takes many forms in Reggio preschools,
especially now that technology has opened new avenues for the work (Cagliari et al., 2016;
Forman, 2012). The process began in the 1970s when Malaguzzi suggested that teachers in all
the municipal schools keep a “diary” of their work with specific children, as an in-depth study of
the child (Cagliari et al., 2016). The classic published work, The Diary of Laura, born of this first
initiative, documents a year in the life of 18 month old Laura and examines how she explores and
makes meaning of her world (Edwards & Rinaldi, 2009). The work is highly respectful of this
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young learner, but also candid (i.e., detailing ways in which the child experiences tantrums). In
addition to these diaries, documentation began to “leave traces” of learning through “written
notes, observation charts…recordings, photographs, slides and video, which are able to make
visible the children’s learning processes and ways of constructing knowledge” (Rinaldi, 2006, p.
57). Technology has allowed for this documentation to be more easily catalogued and shared
with the larger community (Forman, 2012). Documentation in Reggio is a critical learning
reflection for children, and also a powerful entry point for parents and community members into
progressive education (Cagliari et al., 2016; Moss, 2012).
Parents and documentation. Documentation allows parents a window into the “how and
why” of their children’s work in school. As Rinaldi (2006) describes:
It is an opportunity for parents to see unknown aspects of their child, to see, in a certain
sense, the ‘invisible’ child that parents are rarely able to see. But documentation also
allows parents the value of comparison, discussion, and exchange with other parents, and
fosters growth in each parent’s awareness of his or her own role and identity. (p. 59)
In this way, documentation acts as a growth process for children, teachers, parents and the
community. It helps parents understand the child as a capable human being who studies
meaningful concepts. It also acts as a spark for conversation that can be child to child, child to
teacher, child to parent, teacher to parent, parent to community member, or teacher to community
member. It is in this exchange that this form of education becomes more highly valued. The
municipal budget for preschools in Reggio is 14% of the annual budget, and there is evidence
that suggests this is the result of active campaigning and sharing of documentation in the
community (Edwards et al., 2011). Documentation is a powerful tool for educators.
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Documentation: is it formative assessment? Assessment can be defined as a “decision-
making tool [as well as] a procedure used to determine the degree to which an individual child
possesses a certain attribute…[the term] can be used interchangeably with measurement” (Gullo,
2004). Documentation, however, cannot be used interchangeably with the word “measurement”
because it is also a tool used to “reveal the learning paths that children are taking and processes
they are using in their search for meaning” (Fyfe, 2012, p. 274). Therefore, documentation is not
framed as a summative assessment tool in Reggio work. Within the social constructivist
perspective of education (as opposed to the behaviorist orientation) meaning is constructed
between the child and the teacher, and learning is revisited and reexamined together as a part of
formative evaluation (Fyfe, 2012). In a behaviorist orientation, the formative evaluation process
evolves from the teacher knowing and having all the answers, and the child delivering these
answers after instruction (Fyfe, 2012). This goes against the “co-construction” of knowledge that
happens between teacher and child in the Reggio schools, as a part of the documentation process
(Rinaldi, 2006). Therefore, documentation can act as formative evaluation of co-constructed
learning, with the purpose of guiding a study of concepts, finding new learning paths, and
helping children to assess what they know and what they want to know more of (Forman & Fyfe,
2012; Fyfe, 2012). In her work as a staff developer, Fyfe (2012) has noticed that teachers “who
are new to the Reggio concept of documentation…must deconstruct their concepts of the
purposes and processes of assessment” as a part of their work with documentation (p.285). This
allows teachers to use documentation as a formative evaluation of learning within the framework
of a social constructivist lens.
Listening and documentation. Within the metaphor of children having, as Malaguzzi
(2016) said, “a hundred languages” through which they express themselves, the “pedagogy of
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listening” allows teachers to better understand how children are constructing knowledge
(Rinaldi, 2012). Within the pedagogy of listening, teachers observe children to better understand
their view of the world (Rinaldi, 2006). This form of careful listening helps teachers and children
discover more questions inside of their learning journeys instead of just answers. Teachers work
actively to interpret what is observed and show children that they are valued and heard (Rinaldi,
2012). This takes a great deal of practice on the part of the teacher. Understanding the pedagogy
of listening allows for a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of the work
that is done in Reggio preschools, and how Reggio educators achieve their detailed
documentation work.
Documentation as Reggio’s contribution to pedagogy. Rinaldi (2006) describes
documentation as the primary influence Reggio Emilia schools have had on education today.
Documentation is now a common practice in municipal, state, and religious schools in Reggio
Emilia, as well as schools in the neighboring cities of Parma and Pardova (Biroli et al., 2017).
While not a program or a set of rules, documentation is seen as a primary framework for the
work in the municipal schools in Reggio (Cagliari et al., 2016). Documentation acts as a meaning
making process for teachers and children. Teachers in Reggio use documentation to find focus in
open-ended studies and enhance their professional practice (Forman & Fyfe, 2012). Teachers
must constantly reexamine their practice and their understanding of children through this work,
which acts as another integral framework for the practices in Reggio schools.
Reggio schools as learning organizations. Rinaldi (2006) explains that detailed and
thoughtful documentation requires truly dedicated and unique teachers with a wide variety of
experiences and the ability to be lifelong learners. This thoughtful form of teaching also requires
a learning organization. A learning organization is one that can help teachers to link theory to
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33
their practice; one that can go through iterations of change as historical patterns evolve; one that
allows teachers to see themselves as researchers in their practice; and an environment that
considers what is best for children as learners (Cagliari et al., 2016; Cagliari, Filippini,
Giacopini, Bonilauri, & Margini, 2012; Edwards, 2012; Gandini, 2012e).
The theory practice relationship. Rinaldi (2006), and Malaguzzi before her, both
criticized the separation between the educational philosophers (often in universities), and the
teacher-practitioners in the classroom (Cagliari et al., 2016). Rinaldi (2006) explains that calling
a teacher a practitioner, “is not a wrong definition of the teacher…[but] it’s wrong that they are
not also seen as theorists” (p. 191). Reggio inspired teachers actively question existing
pedagogical theories as they practice in the classroom (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006).
Malguzzi based much of his pedagogical thinking on Piaget’s concepts of developmental stages,
but explained that in practice, not every child experiences every stage, or may move through the
stages in different ways than Piaget described them (Cagliari et al., 2016). Reggio teachers study
progressive theories in education, but also act as scientists and observers in the classroom,
developing new theories within the school context (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Iterations of change and study of oneself as an organization. Rinaldi (2006) felt it is
useless to hold onto specific pedagogical practices too tightly, or contrarily, to pretend that in
education there is no historical script that shaped practices in today’s schools. In becoming a
learning organization, the school simultaneously embraces and acknowledges the fast paced
changes happening in the world, while balancing their values based on pedagogical theories of
the past and of the present (Moss, 2012). Loris Malaguzzi modeled changes in thought
throughout his lifetime (Cagliari et al., 2016). He was an avid reader, continually searching for
new theories of education and other like-minded learning organizations to connect with (Cagliari
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34
et al., 2016). He also took time to reexamine old theories, and often tested the foundational
pedagogical theories of Vygotsky, Piaget, Bruner, Montessori and many others (Cagliari et al.,
2016). Malaguzzi described theorists as “our Piaget, our Vygotsky, our, our” so as not to adopt
“a theory which tells you what the end result should be” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 181). Any theory that
is adopted so rigidly as to become a form of dogma runs the risk of suffocating educators and
their practice with children in different settings (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006). When
asked what the secret is to Reggio, Rinaldi (2006) explains that there “is no secret, no key, if not
that of constantly examining our understandings, knowledge and intuitions, and sharing and
comparing them with those of our colleagues” (p. 72). In this way, Reggio teachers are
constantly changing and growing, while still acknowledging and appreciating their foundation.
Teachers as researchers. In order to find these iterations within an organization, the
teachers must also be seen as pedagogical researchers (Cagliari et al., 2016; Gandini, 2012b;
Rinaldi, 2006). In discussion of the kinds of organizations schools must become, Malaguzzi said:
What is needed is this: the constant presence of a scientific attitude, that is to say the
attitude of teachers marveling when faced with the facts of their everyday professional
life, who want to interrogate them, and attempt to obtain an answer by subjecting them to
methodical observation and experiment. (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 84)
Teachers’ love for learning and curiosity transforms the work that happens with children.
It allows teachers to see themselves as learners alongside the children, and not as the sole
knowledge bearers (Cagliari et al., 2016; Forman & Fyfe, 2012; Rinaldi, 2006). When Malaguzzi
began to transform the school system in Italy in the 1960s, teachers were seen as the source of
knowledge for children (Cagliari et al., 2016). Many standards-based education initiatives in the
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35
United States today still place teachers as the primary knowledge bearers (Justice, Logan, Lin, &
Kaderavek, 2014; Moss, 2012). Reggio schools ask teachers to learn from children as well.
Innovation in the education world will never come from the status-quo:
…only searching and researching are guaranteed to lead us to that which is new, that
which moves us forward. In contrast, the status quo of normality excludes research as the
approach to be used every day and therefore excludes doubt, error, uncertainty, curiosity,
marvel, and amazement as important values in our daily lives. (Rinaldi, 2012, p. 245)
Therefore, it is necessary if schools want to help create spaces for innovation, that teachers be
innovators within their practice. This happens through observation, documentation,
collaboration, and professional development (Cagliari et al., 2016; Forman & Fyfe, 2012).
Teachers as researchers through documentation. The relationship between the teacher as
researcher, the pedagogy of listening, and the practice of documentation are tightly knit in the
Reggio preschools (Dahlberg, 2012; Gandini, 2012b; Rinaldi, 2012). Rinaldi (2012) explains that
when “teachers make listening and documentation central to their practice, they transform
themselves into researchers” (p. 244). In Reggio schools, to truly develop one’s practice as a
teacher-researcher, the teacher must practice documentation (Rinaldi, 2006). In doing so, the
teacher constantly examines her practice and the thinking of the children she works with in
collaboration with other teachers, as a scientist would do (Dahlberg, 2012). Without constant
reexamination of one’s practice through documentation, there is a gap between theories of
education and what actually happens in the classroom (Dahlberg, 2012; Dahlberg et al., 1999).
This forces the teacher to be vulnerable in her practice as it requires self-examination and self-
critique (Rinaldi, 2006). Documentation holds a mirror to practice and shows teacher limitations,
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36
in addition to teacher possibilities. A teacher-researcher must be open to this vulnerability in
order to proceed with the work.
Many Reggio-inspired schools are seeking innovation in education, and see the Reggio
approach as one pathway towards that change. In entering into this dialogue, as Rinaldi (2006)
described Reggio inspiration, the schools also enter into a constant search for meaning and
renewal. There is no formula: seeking Reggio inspiration is about seeking new opportunities.
Opportunities
The Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia 2020 Strategic Focus states that students can
personalize their learning through strategically provided opportunities. The school outlined
desired student learning outcomes that include creativity, character, critical thinking, content
knowledge, and collaboration, all of which are intricately tied to opportunities in education. The
work that Loris Malaguzzi, Carlina Rinaldi, and many others have started in the municipal
schools in Reggio Emilia embraces possibility and opportunity in education for children. Three
defining frameworks from Reggio preschools encompass this work: a focus on the many ways
children communicate; designing spaces to support possibilities in learning; and redefined
educator roles (Cagliari et al., 2016, 2012; Cooper, 2012; Edwards, 2012; Gandini, 2012a,
2012b, 2012d).
The hundred languages of children. Throughout his life, Malaguzzi pushed the public
to value children as human beings capable of intricate thoughts (Cagliari et al., 2016). The
Catholic church was the main provider of early childhood education when Reggio municipal
preschools began, and from Malaguzzi’s perspective, Catholic school environments were
unsuitable for children. In the 1970s, Malaguzzi stated in verse (in all capital letters in the
original):
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CHILDREN HAVE A HUNDRED LANGUAGES: THEY ROB
THEM OF NINETY NINE
SCHOOL AND CULTURE
WORK TO SEPARATE
BODIES-MINDS
MAKING THEM THINK WITHOUT THEIR BODY
AND ACT WITHOUT THEIR HEAD
MAKING CONFLICT BETWEEN
PLAY AND WORK
REALITY AND FANTASY
SCIENCE AND IMAGINATION
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE (Cagliari et al., 2016)
The poem goes on to name “languages” that children metaphorically speak through, such
as paint and woodwork, music and sculpture, printmaking and dress up, puppets and fantasy play
(Cagliari et al., 2016). At the time, it was controversial to think of young children as
communicators instead of receptors of knowledge. Malaguzzi and the municipal schools received
criticism from the Catholic church, which began many public meetings to openly discuss
education with members of the church (Cagliari et al., 2016). Malaguzzi’s metaphor of the
hundred languages of children attempted to bridge the adult world with that of the child. He
advocated that children experience the world through many media, but traditional schools often
silence children by giving them only tables, chairs, writing utensils, and books (Cagliari et al.,
2016; Rinaldi, 2006). The Reggio municipal schools provide children many different contexts
within which to express themselves (Cagliari et al., 2016).
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Howard Gardener (2003) developed a similar theory about young children in 1983,
describing it not as a hundred languages, but as multiple intelligences. There are connections that
could be drawn between the hundred languages, multiple intelligences, and code changing, a
term used to describe language learners and their ability to move in and out of the multiple
languages they know. Studies in recent years have looked at, situationally, what drives children
in and out of the home language to that of the school language (Gollan & Ferreira, 2009; Reyes,
2004). The studies find that children use the language that best suits what they are trying to
express in the moment in the most meaningful way they can find to express it (Gollan & Ferreira,
2009; Reyes, 2004). If language learners do this with spoken language, it can be posited then that
young children might do this with all forms of communication, with a variety of media (drama,
dance, puppets, clay, wire sculpture). More research would need to be done in order to make this
connection, but Malaguzzi’s (2016) and Gardener’s (2003) work suggests that young children
will choose the media that best allows them to communicate their thoughts, feelings and theories
with the world. Rinaldi (2006) describes that “shifting from one language to another, as well as
their reciprocal interaction…enables the creation and consolidation of concepts and conceptual
maps” (p. 67). This references back to the teacher’s role as guide for concepts over subject-
specific facts (Forman & Fyfe, 2012).
Text and artwork. Throughout the writings on Reggio schools, authors reference many
different kinds of languages that young children communicate in. In Reggio preschools teachers
do introduce alphabetic code, but first, they create contexts for children to discover the need for
code (Rubizzi & Bonilauri, 2012). In order for children to fully understand written systems, they
must first deconstruct and reconstruct the rules of writing, and teachers can provide contexts to
practice this (Rubizzi & Bonilauri, 2012). In his work at the CMPP in the 1950s (before the first
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municipal preschool opened in 1963), Malaguzzi led a study of the child’s ability to draw a
prompted picture at different ages (Cagliari et al., 2016). He noted that as children grow, they are
capable of interpreting more complex language clauses, and express more through their pictures,
so artwork evolves as a language over time (Cagliari et al., 2016). Later in his work, Malaguzzi
“spoke about aesthetic vibration…as a drive that is rooted within us and leads us to choose
among patterns of thinking and among visual images” (Piccinini & Gandini, 2012, p. 94). Visual
images and text codes are commonly used languages in many preschools, however, Reggio-
inspired work opens many more languages for children to explore.
Emotions. Emotions can be viewed as a language, as they “help children explore the
world, and help them understand and create relations (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 95). In the lives of all
children, emotions are a very strong language, and all teachers are familiar with this, however
Reggio teachers turn emotion to concept and explore this with children (Forman, 2012).
Children’s thoughts on emotions are valued and discussed, and children learn to define and
categorize their emotions, discerning between pain and hurt, love and affection, both in the
adult’s world and the child’s (Rinaldi, 2006).
Food and taste. Another very tangible language in Italy, and particularly in Reggio
schools, is the language of food. Each Reggio Municipal School has a kitchen space that is a part
of the school, staffed with professional chefs (Gandini, 2012a). Gandini (2012a) explains that the
kitchen is “always an important space where the cook and her helpers include a few children
every day in the food preparation…[and where] there [is] great attention to the ‘languages’ of
taste and food” (p. 335). In this way, seeing food and taste as a language is another way for
children to explore conceptual thought and to make comparisons and connection.
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Numbers and Logic. Malaguzzi described languages as “one of the most vital and
interesting aspects of early years’ pedagogy” and goes on to state that:
…mathematics must be given credit as one of the most powerful and fertile factors in
mental and logical-linguistic development…It has its own precious objectivity and rigour
of expression, and increases agility of thinking by ordering and enriching structural
elements, initiating [thinking] at an early stage to the possession of symbols, and
stimulating it to hypothesis and reversibility. (P. Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 128)
Malaguzzi saw that when children are given the right context, they can learn to express
themselves through numbers and logic, which act as a foundation to develop mathematical
strategy (Cagliari et al., 2016). This rich quality of context and concept is established for children
in Reggio preschools.
Technology. Technology is a powerful language evolving in the world of education
today. Reggio teachers have embraced technology, but of course they have done so in a uniquely
Reggio way (Forman, 2012). In a scene described from La Villetta school, teachers explained
that a tree branch fell at the school, and the children worried that the tree branch (the child)
missed its tree (the mother) (Forman, 2012). Unable to physically reunite mother and child:
The children, using the Mindstorm blocks from Lego, created a way for the tree to say
hello to the branch. These blocks have sensors that respond to light by turning on other
switches. As the sun rose in the morning, its light reflected from a mirror placed on the
tree and hit a light sensor the children placed on the branch. At this point, the light sensor
triggered a soundtrack that said, “Good morning Mommy.” (Forman, 2012, p. 345)
Forman (2012) describes this as a uniquely Reggio response to the possibilities of integrating the
technological and social world of children. It becomes a form of communication between
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children, but also between children and the world around them. In the Diana Preschool, as
children explored technology as a language, they described, “The computer is like a foreigner,
and if you want to talk to it, you have to speak its language…Yes, but the computer has to
understand how we talk, too, and it has to do what we want it to do” (Forman, 2012, p. 346). As
with the other languages, teachers in Reggio guide children to think about technology
conceptually, and to balance or blend its use with other media.
When teachers guide children with concept and context instead of delivering facts, the
“hundred languages of children” intersects with the pedagogy of listening. Teachers must
observe how young children communicate with different media. If a child is not engaging with a
concept, they may not have the right context or “language” to fully understand the concept, and it
is the teacher’s role to provide a new context for children to explore the concept. Reggio
educators feel that the learning spaces help guide this process (Gandini, 2012a).
The space as the third teacher. In the 1970s, Malaguzzi’s advocated for the
transformation of spaces for young learners. In a 1975 essay, Malaguzzi wrote that there “can be
no doubt about the close and binding interaction between school architecture, the functions and
meanings of its furniture and equipment, and its educational contents, method and objectives”
(Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 217). This was a critique of many traditional school spaces of the time
(with bare walls, desks or tables in rows, and a teacher at the front), and also a call for change.
As educational philosophies shifted, the architecture of schools for young children needed to
change as well.
Reggio schools today take great care in both the architectural structure of the schools, as
well as the aesthetics within (Gandini, 2012a). As Gandini (2012a) describes, the “structures,
choice of materials, and attractive ways in which educators set them up for the children become
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an open invitation to explore” (p. 319). Spaces in Reggio give consideration to light, color,
natural materials, and how children and adults move from one place to the next (Gandini, 2012a;
Rinaldi, 2006). Educators also use the spaces to display documentation in order to engage the
community in discussions around the work (Dahlberg, 2012). In the construction of spaces in
Reggio, thought is given to how the architecture can support pedagogy, ensuring that space has
purpose, and that it supports all members of its community (Cagliari et al., 2016; Gandini,
2012a; Soncini, 2012). Following are recommendations from Reggio educators to support
inviting, stimulating preschool spaces.
How architecture supports pedagogy. Preschools are often built in spaces out of
convenience without thought to the meaning of school (Rinaldi, 2006). For Reggio early
childhood schools, architecture supports the philosophy of education, with the primary goal of
assisting children in the development of concepts through active exploration (Rinaldi, 2006).
Spaces in these schools support both small group interactions, whole group meetings, and give
children places they can be on their own as well (Gandini, 2012a). Light is given great
consideration and spaces often include glass walls or large windows that are used to structure
thoughtful activities about how the sun moves, how the light changes as the day proceeds, and
how shadows work (Gandini, 2012a).
Space has purpose. Reggio educators often refer to school space as “the third teacher,” a
role developed by thoughtful architects, pedagogistas, atelieristas, teachers, and children
(Gandini, 2012a). Educators see the “space as a ‘container’ that favors social interaction,
exploration, and learning, but they also see space…as containing educational messages and being
charged with stimuli toward interactive experience” (Gandini, 2012a, p. 320). Teachers craft a
space that supports pedagogy and investigation, while also allowing children to leave visible
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traces of themselves. Reggio educators see the space outside the school grounds as an extension
of the educational space. Children are brought into the community to explore in support of
conceptual learning that happens within school walls (Gandini, 2012a). Some pedagogical
projects begin from an interaction that children have in a space outside of the school, like a study
on how bridges are built or how the city interacts with the rain (Forman, 2012). These projects
are documented in the school space, and shared with the wider community in a variety of ways
(Dahlberg, 2012).
Children, parents, teachers and the space. Malaguzzi felt school architecture needed
spaces to share documentation and support encounters between families, children, teachers, and
community members (Cagliari et al., 2016). Reggio preschool spaces support children, teachers,
and parents. The spaces enable children as independent learners (individually and in small
groups), to communicate easily with one another, to see themselves in the space, and to play and
explore (Rinaldi, 2006). The spaces allow teachers to have private spaces, support both children
and adults, and to gather for professional development (Rinaldi, 2006). For parents, the spaces
keep them up-to-date on information regarding their children, and allow them to meet and
collaborate with other parents (Gandini, 2012a). Entering into a conversation with Reggio, or
looking to be Reggio inspired, means thoughtfully crafting spaces for children that support
pedagogy. Following are recommendations from pedagogista Lella Gandini (2012a) aimed to
help teachers create Reggio inspired spaces.
Recommendations from Reggio about teaching spaces. Preschool spaces should have an
“overall softness” that invites a peaceful feeling, they should help children and teachers to
connect, they should connect with the environment outside the space, and offer multi-sensory
experiences through light and texture (Gandini, 2012a, p. 324). Reggio educators construct
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spaces with careful consideration to colors, lighting and materials. Teachers provide a range of
colors in the space, not just primary colors, as well as neutral soft tones. The lighting comes in
many forms including sunlight, “incandescent, fluorescent, vapor, halogen, etc., in order to make
optimal use of the full range of possibilities…[light] should be able to create shadows,” and
materials come in a variety of textures and patterns and include a wealth of natural materials like
“wood, stone, flowers, fabrics…glass, steel” (Gandini, 2012a, pp. 325–326). In addition to
aesthetics, spaces need to be flexible and adaptable (with moveable parts and pieces, as well as
wall space that can be changed throughout the year), they should invite the community to
participate within them, they should support co-construction of knowledge between children and
teachers, and should be rich with documentation and a sense of “harmony, equilibrium, and
positive interactions” (Gandini, 2012a, p. 327). It is clear through discussion of spaces in Reggio
that teams of educators must really support one another and the children in the creation of such
spaces. Architects design and build creative spaces, but the educators and children must take
control and ownership of the space as well.
Unique educator roles in Reggio. It takes an exceptional community of educators,
dedicated to their practice, to mirror education in Reggio. Many Reggio inspired schools also
include the unique educator roles found in the preschools and infant toddler centers. These
include the role of pedagogista (or pedagogue), the atelierista, who supports the arts, as well as a
co-teaching model that breaks teachers out of isolated classrooms (Cagliari et al., 2016).
What is a pedagogista? In schools in Reggio Emilia, there are not directors at each
school site, and instead administrative duties are distributed throughout the system:
Such administrative functions as hiring teachers and staff, admitting children, and
collecting parent fees take place in the central office. Then, within each center and
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school, the educators and staff work as a collective to provide high-quality services. To
accomplish this they depend on their assigned pedagogista and the rest of the
coordinating team… (Cagliari et al., 2012, p. 136)
In Malaguzzi’s words, pedagogisti (plural of pedagogista in Italian), help to “facilitate
interpersonal connection and consider both the overall ideas and the details” of pedagogical
projects and the running of the schools (Gandini, 2012b, p. 42). One of their main tasks,
therefore, is to stay informed on current educational practices, ideas for pedagogical exploration,
and to provide professional development for teachers and parents on these practices (Cagliari et
al., 2012). In most Reggio inspired schools, this role would mirror that of the program director.
What is an atelierista? The role of atelierista was brought into the Reggio schools by
Loris Malaguzzi in the 1960s, in addition to the atelier space, that is referenced specifically in
his letter to the mayor in 1969 as “one of the original achievements of our experience, much
appreciated by children and families” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 141). The atelier space is
dedicated specifically as an area to explore materials (arts and otherwise). The atelierista
functions as a provider for this space, but is also a creator alongside children and teachers
(Gandini, 2012d). It is important to consider the role of the atelierista, but also the function of
the atelier spaces in the Reggio schools. As Vea Vecchi, a Reggio atelierista, describes two
functions of the atelier:
First, it is a space that makes it possible for children to encounter interesting and
attractive contexts, where they can explore many and diverse materials as well as
techniques that have expressive combinatorial possibilities. Second, it assists the adults in
understanding processes of how children learn (Gandini, 2012d, p. 304).
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The atelier space allows adults to see children working with a variety of materials and highlights
their capabilities in ways that might not be as visible in other contexts (Gandini, 2012d).
The job of the atelierista is to communicate with teachers regularly about when and how
to introduce materials or projects, to find out what supports teachers need to teach techniques, to
circulate ideas between teachers, and to actively tour the classrooms and support children’s work
(Gandini, 2012d). The atelier might be compared to an arts studio or a maker’s space, and the
atelierista “may be an artist, a musician, a dancer, a photographer, a geologist or an
[information/communication technology] expert” (Thorton & Brunton, 2014, p. 11).
The atelierista must ensure that the atelier space supports teachers in four areas: first,
that the arts act as a provocation for conceptual project-based work; second, the work done
within the atelier is made visible, as another form of documentation; third, to unlock potential
work with technology that surpasses expected use; and lastly, to see work created in the atelier is
shared with the community, which provides another bridge from inside school to the outside
(Gandini, 2012d). In many schools, the roles similar to an atelierista are often
compartmentalized into a music teacher, an art teacher, a technology coach, etc. It seems that
Malaguzzi envisioned the role of the atelierista in the same way that he envisioned the role of
the classroom teacher. Educators take on a holistic approach, refusing to compartmentalize
children or roles. All form a part of the creative community in the city, as the community
expands beyond the school walls.
The co-teaching model and the teacher’s role. Malaguzzi felt strongly that teachers
needed to co-teach (two teachers for every 30 children, in the Reggio preschool model) to break
from the isolation of ideas, actions, and competition between teachers (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Collaboration is key to the Reggio approach. In the 1970s, Malaguzzi stated that a new kind of
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teacher was needed for a new kind of education in Italy, a teacher who considered herself an
intellectual, and not just a manager of children (Cagliari et al., 2016). This teacher, as
intellectual, is responsible for watching children, documenting work, collaborating in small
groups at times, and at others working as an individual (Edwards, 2012).
Teachers focus on children’s work, they provide clarity, and help children struggle with
the concepts through new provocations around a theme (Edwards, 2012). Teachers look for
“knots” in children’s learning, or moments that provide cognitive dissonance, at which point the
teacher could take several courses of action (Edwards, 2012). She might subtly provide
“scaffolding,” into a further stage of development (as referenced in the work of Piaget and
Vygotsky), or use the child’s conceptual disequilibrium as topic for group discussion with the
children and then launch a new phase of investigation (Edwards, 2012). All of this work requires
a delicate balance on the part of the teacher, as she must know when to step in, and when to hold
back. Within the collaborative life of the school, teachers look closely and critically at their
practice, with the help of the pedagogista and atelierista, and are simultaneously given
encouragement as well as advice for next steps (Cagliari et al., 2012). This work requires
teachers and other team members to dedicate themselves to the development and wellbeing of
the young children in their care.
Holistic Care
Holistic care in the PASA context means that every child is cared for as an individual and
a part of the community. Early childhood is often a time where holistic care is most explicitly
needed, but is not always provided. Reggio, in their constant efforts to improve education in
Northern Italy, set new standards in the past 40 years in three particular areas. The first is to
change the image of the child from weak individual who needs help navigating the world, to
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strong capable being with whom adults can co-construct knowledge (Gandini, 2012b; Rinaldi,
2006). Also, Malaguzzi heavily promoted family involvement in the schools and as activists in
the community (Cagliari et al., 2016). Lastly, Malaguzzi advocated that all children have a place
in the school system, regardless of the child’s ability (Cagliari et al., 2016; Gandini, 2012b;
Rinaldi, 2006). These three frameworks (image of the child, inclusive family practices, and
ethical practices in schools) will be explored further in this section.
Image of the child. Reggio inspired schools focus on innate capabilities of the child.
Loris Malaguzzi fought for children to be seen as strong capable beings. In his words:
Each step forward, each curiosity satisfied, each test overcome, each problem brought
closer to the truth, each discovery, is a source of great wellbeing, great satisfaction and
great confidence for children. Children know how to know, children can know. (Cagliari
et al., 2016, p. 239)
Malaguzzi fought for schools to meet children’s most basic needs, such as the right to space, to
make a mess, to be noisy or to be quiet, to spend time together or alone, and the right to get
enough sleep and have enough to eat (Cagliari et al., 2016). The world must continue to value
and believe in the innate power children have to learn and grow, as well as the need for schools
to meet their most basic needs.
Children are capable beings. Research shows that when teachers believe their students
are capable, children achieve higher standards (Mckown & Weinstein, 2008; C. Rubie-Davies,
Hattie, & Hamilton, 2006; C. M. Rubie-Davies, 2006). Reggio schools, under Malaguzzi’s
guidance, advocated that children are not passive receivers of knowledge, rather, they are strong
capable beings who create theories about the world and how it works (Cagliari et al., 2016;
Gandini, 2012b; Rinaldi, 2006).
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Challenges will arise when teachers are asked to change their philosophy of education,
changing their role to provider of concept, context and inspiration for learning. In a speech
Malaguzzi gave at a conference in 1971, he acknowledged that he asked “a great effort [from]
teachers…to voluntarily give up things they believed in good faith, so they can participate in
building schools together with children, young people, parents and citizens” (Cagliari et al.,
2016, p. 180). Strong change leadership is needed in schools that are changing from a more
traditional philosophical model where teachers are givers of knowledge, to a model of teachers
and students as co-constructers of knowledge. If strong leadership is absent, teachers may change
the walls and the materials of the school building, while the beliefs and the education remain
more or less unchanged.
In dialogue with children. As seen in the documentation work, listening to children is a
strong value found in Reggio schools (Dahlberg, 2012; Rinaldi, 2012). Rinildi (2006) defined
listening as being sensitive to the child’s wants and needs, hopes and desires, and languages with
which the child is constructing knowledge. In a section on creativity in municipal schools,
Rinaldi (2006) described a three-year-old child who drew a horse on a piece of paper with two
legs, but knew that horses have four legs, and so turned the page and drew two squiggly lines on
the other side of the paper in order to show the horse’s other two legs in motion. This is a
conceptual understanding of horses and movement that could easily be missed. Many schools do
not provide time to carefully observe, “because they have a curriculum to follow and they try to
correct ‘mistakes’ immediately, to provide quick solutions to a problem and not give children the
time to find their own solutions” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 116). In order to understand how to listen to
children and co-construct knowledge, the teacher must have a strong vision of the child as a
meaning maker.
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Children as meaning makers. Children can learn facts, but children also need to connect
these facts to their lives in order to give them meaning. Reggio schools practice documentation
and co-construction of knowledge with children so that they can make meaning of the world
(Dahlberg, 2012; Forman & Fyfe, 2012). There is a belief in Reggio schools that children are in a
constant search for the meaning behind things (Forman & Fyfe, 2012; Rinaldi, 2006). Preschool
provides contexts for important neurological development from ages zero to three, although it is
a common myth that this is the only time in a child’s life vital to shaping neural pathways
(Howard-Jones, 2014). Malaguzzi (2016) warned parents and teachers that when children are
offered too much top-down information, they do not develop “the courage that is vitally
necessary for [them] to soar in many directions and try out many models and behaviors”
(Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 266). Teachers must allow children the space to make meaning.
Teachers who use documentation to support this work believe in the innate potential of the child
(Fyfe, 2012). They do not just fill an empty vessel (the child) in order to meet future curricular
demands.
Children are meaning makers just as scientists are. In the 1980s, Malaguzzi entered into
dialogue with David Hawkins, a scientist and philosopher, and both “were convinced that
children take the same attitude towards the world as scientists: asking questions…advancing and
trying out hypotheses, developing and revisiting theories” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 282). The
ways in which children study the world are not confined by subject disciplines, although many
schools present information as if it were subject area bound (Cagliari et al., 2016). Within the
constructivist philosophy of education, teachers create contexts for children to explore scientific
concepts, and then teachers use questions to guide children as they make theories (Chaille &
Britain, 2003). This relates to what Forman and Fyfe (2012) call the process of negotiated
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learning, and what in Reggio schools is referred to as co-construction of documentation of
learning. While the constructivist approach views children as powerful capable learners, it also
requires a great deal of work on the part of the teacher and family to provide contexts for
children. Malaguzzi saw the importance of both the family and the community having a clear
understanding of this work (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Inclusion of family and community. Educators in Reggio municipal schools advocate
strongly, as Malaguzzi did, for families to participate in the schools (Cagliari et al., 2016;
Gandini, 2012c; Rinaldi, 2006). Malaguzzi advocated that parents attend all school meetings in
order to support their children (Cagliari et al., 2016). At the same time, Malaguzzi understood
that family participation:
requires many things, but most of all, it demands of teachers a multitude of adjustments.
Teachers must possess a habit of questioning their certainties; a growth of sensitivity,
awareness, and availability; the assuming of a critical style of research and continually
updated knowledge of children; an enriched evaluation of parental roles; and skills to
talk, listen, and learn from parents. (Gandini, 2012b, p. 46)
It is through this close questioning and understanding that a deeper relationship is formed with
families. This demands more energy on the part of the teachers, but in the eyes of Reggio
practitioners, it is essential for the school community (Gandini, 2012c; Rinaldi, 2006).
How have families changed over time? Reggio professionals pay attention to how
families have changed over time, and how this affects the child. In Italy in the past sixty years
there has been a drop in the birth rate (though it is currently on the rise), which has changed
family structures (Goldstein, Sobotka, & Aiva Jasilioniene, 2009). Spaggiari, a long-time
pedagogista, observed that, due to the drop in fertility rates over time, “the child is perceived as a
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rare and precious object, [but then] because Italy is also an aging society, a child is considered a
disruptive presence, almost an intruder, in a world not in tune with the child’s needs and rights”
(Gandini, 2012c, p. 120). Children, therefore, need to be introduced to the surrounding
community in a way that highlights the beauty and value of early childhood. Family
communication is also critical to support the parent perception of the child and to foster a
thorough understanding of how best to support the child.
Communicating with families. Malaguzzi (2011) felt strongly that teachers needed to
communicate constantly with parents through high quality documentation of their children’s
work. Communication and documentation help parents to “reexamine their assumptions about
their parenting roles and their views about the experience their children are living and take a new
and more inquisitive approach toward the whole school experience” (Gandini, 2012b, p. 46).
There are many different ways that parents are involved in the Reggio schools, including: whole
class meetings, small groups of parents meeting in the same class, individual parent-teacher
meetings (only as necessary), themed meetings for the whole school, lectures with experts in the
field, work groups to help with school spaces or curriculum, study labs with parents and children,
holiday celebrations, and participation in the Advisory Council, a governing body for each
school (Gandini, 2012).
The family, teacher, and staff act as protagonists in the stories of children’s lives, and
consequently, their actions are closely tied to one another (Rinaldi, 2006). The school’s objective
then is the well-being of all parties involved. As with any symbiotic relationship, when one part
of the system is out of balance, it effects the other parts of the system as well. In creating
balance, the school “avoids separation between family and institutional experience and the
creation of hierarchies between individuals, functions and spaces, and any form of subordination
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between the [preschool] and the family (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 51). Forman and Fyfe (2012) see the
communication between families and the school as an “intellectual partnership,” where families
can influence the negotiated learning their children participate in.
Family and community participation. In Reggio schools, families and school staff are
responsible for supporting or refuting political initiatives that will impact the schools. Malaguzzi
set the standard himself through constant political activism. He held public forums for
community members, encouraged families to protest unwanted political bills, and he pushed for
municipal funding of schools (Cagliari et al., 2016). Today, Reggio preschools receive 14% of
the total municipal budget in Reggio (Edwards et al., 2012). In order to have successful, long
lasting progressive settings such as Reggio, it takes a commitment from the community, and a
commitment that does not waver as the political landscape changes over time.
Reggio municipal schools have established many structures to support parent and
community participation in the schools. Every third year, there is an election in the city for new
members of the City and Childhood Councils for each preschool. Representatives from this
school council are sent to the Intercouncil, which is made up of elected city officials and heads of
the major Reggio preschool associations (including the International Association Friends of
Reggio Children) (Gandini, 2012c). There is widespread participation in these local elections,
and in recent elections 75% of families voted for members of City and Childhood Councils in
their preschool (Gandini, 2012c). These positions are held both by parents and townspeople who
are not otherwise connected to the school (Gandini, 2012c).
The City and Childhood Council acts in the place of an administration in each school, as
each center does not have a cite-specific administrator, but rather a pedagogista assigned to
multiple schools (Gandini, 2012c). The council might “draw up agendas and emergency plans,
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process parental concerns and proposals…study and implement strategies to maximize parental
participation” (Gandini, 2012c, p. 123). In addition they might call for subject specific meetings
to support parents or the school, or think about activities that will facilitate transitions for the
children from preschool to elementary school, and they also “coordinate work sessions, monitor
implementation, and assess the results of the work done” (Gandini, 2012c, p. 123). This work is
a clear commitment to the education of the children of Reggio, and something that Malaguzzi
proposed was truly unique to the Reggio experience. This goes hand in hand with the ethical
practices the Reggio municipal schools have cultivated in the past sixty years.
Ethical practice. Malaguzzi fought very hard in his lifetime to prove to his own
community, and those beyond, that high quality early childhood education is not an option, it is a
right; not just a public right for families to have access to, but also a right for all children,
regardless of their ability (Cagliari et al., 2016; Delrio, 2012). Reggio school practitioners
provide for the social emotional wellbeing of their students, they see early childhood care as an
investment in society, and they embrace differences in children’s abilities (Cagliari et al., 2016;
Rinaldi, 2006; Soncini, 2012).
Inclusive practices in education. Reggio schools make inclusive practices a priority.
Reggio practitioners refer to children with special needs or disabilities as children with “special
rights,” and these children are given priority for acceptance in municipal schools (Edwards et al.,
2012). As early as 1951, as a part of his involvement in the Pshycho-Pedagogical Medical Centre
for Early Childhood and Mental Hygiene, Malaguzzi expressed that health is not just absence of
illness, but wellbeing of body, mind, and one’s social emotional state (Cagliari et al., 2016). This
definition, if accepted by schools, implies that the job of educators goes beyond merely teaching,
and “becomes assistance with the psychological growth and maturing of human beings, making
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possible the growth of a rich, original, socially and individually normal personality” regardless
of ability (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 41).
Italian law (adopted in 1971) mandates that children with disabilities, ranging from Down
syndrome to autism spectrum disorder to cerebral palsy or language disabilities, be
mainstreamed in public school classrooms (Soncini, 2012). In Reggio, there are local health
providers who assess very young children and who remain in contact with the child, family and
school to provide sustained support to the child over time (Soncini, 2012). Reggio educators
support children’s needs with unique and thoughtful structures (Soncini, 2012). Malaguzzi felt
strongly “that having the children with special rights in the schools could stimulate…teachers to
think in terms of a much broader pedagogical approach for all children” (Soncini, 2012, p. 189).
When teachers support children with special rights with visual aids, clearer directions, sensory
structure, and other modifications, all learners benefit from the additional structures.
Reggio actively recruits learners with special rights, and builds a highly structured
support system for the children while they attend the schools (Rinaldi, 2006; Soncini, 2012).
Members of the Reggio Pedagogical Coordinating Team connect with the National Health
Service to see which children receiving treatment are at an age when they can attend the infant
child centers or preschools (Soncini, 2012). These families are contacted and encouraged to
enroll their children in the municipal schools, and are also allowed a choice of which school they
wish their child to attend (Soncini, 2012). Only one child with special rights is placed in each
classroom, and an additional certified teacher provides targeted support for this child (Rinaldi,
2006; Soncini, 2012). The child’s work and behavior is closely documented by a team of people,
and shared with the family (Dahlberg, 2012). Their behavior is also examined through the lens of
languages, to closely examine how the children communicate (Cagliari et al., 2016; Soncini,
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2012). Teachers strongly advocate for the children, and in this inclusive community, children
embrace children with special rights as well, at times helping to interpret their wants or needs for
the adults (Soncini, 2012).
Childcare is a social investment. Early childhood care is expensive, but Malaguzzi and
Rinaldi (2006) both reframed this spending as a social investment (Cagliari et al., 2016).
Graziano Delrio acted as Reggio Emilia’s mayor from 2004 to 2013 (“Graziano Delrio,” 2017).
Delrio described the education in Reggio’s municipal schools as an investment in the diversity of
the city, not only through the inclusion of students with disabilities, but also in the work that the
schools have done to welcome in the new immigrant families migrating to Northern Italy
(Delrio, 2012). He described quality educational services for young children as a civilly,
ethically and politically beneficial; civil in that it provides children equal opportunities regardless
of ability; ethical in that it sees the children as citizens of the city and acknowledges their rights
as human beings; and political in acknowledging the “intercultural coexistence” many countries
in the world are struggling to create gracefully (Delrio, 2012, pp. 82–84).
Difference is not cause for inequity. Ethical educators believe in equitable services
regardless of differences in socioeconomic status, ability, or age (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi,
2006). In Reggio schools, a person holding “a different understanding of reality does not mean
having different rights” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 112). Young children in Reggio Emilia, through the
hard work of many caring, passionate individuals, are seen as citizens of the city, with the same
rights to space, the same rights to services, and the same amount of voice as those with more
power (Delrio, 2012). Young children provide both hope for the future and passion for the
present, and it is the adults’ responsibility to provide space for, listen to, and cultivate this
potential (Cagliari et al., 2016).
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In Reggio municipal schools, difference is not a reason for inequity amongst the staff.
There are not first and second class spaces within the school (the kitchens, for example, are
visible and a space that children know and use), and there are not first or second class positions
for staff (Edwards et al., 2011). Malaguzzi fought in the 1960s and 1970s to increase pay for
auxiliary staff (Cagliari et al., 2016). Auxiliary staff are also included in “professional
development sessions on pedagogical theories” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 150). All staff in Reggio
preschools are encouraged to participate actively in orienting children to the school in the first
days of the new school year (Cagliari et al., 2016). Malaguzzi openly acknowledged that fighting
inequity was difficult in Reggio, but he constantly challenged the differences amongst staff and
fought for the rights of the children (Cagliari et al., 2016). Many others have followed in his
path, and continue to build schools that respect the rights of the child, value family involvement,
co-construct knowledge between adult and child, build inspiring spaces, document children’s
work, and engage the community in the child’s world. It sounds magical, but does it work?
Critique and Questions of the Reggio Emilia Approach
Johnson (1999) critiques educators for thinking of the Reggio approach as either
appropriate or inappropriate for their setting, and compares this judgement to a Foucauldian-like
“cargo cult,” through which the term “Reggio approach” loses meaning. The critique is targeted
at educators who “hope to simplistically import” practices from Reggio, that are often unrealistic
to most settings, such as the atelierista, “low teacher-child ratios; overabundance of resources
and materials; 50 years of post-war community building in Reggio; and 2000 plus years of
Italian culture” (Johnson, 1999, p. 69). This article is a cautionary tale asking educators to not
abandon the “collective and individual” histories in order to find the utopic form of early
childhood education from a distant place (Johnson, 1999). While this cautionary tale is justified
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by newly emerging data from Reggio schools (Biroli et al., 2017), Johnson’s (1999) critique
loses some credibility when discussing the need for “revisioning, rethinking, re-theorizing” early
childhood education, but then stating that “Reggio fails to offer any of that” (Johnson, 1999, p.
75). This shows a narrowly researched perspective of writings about Reggio education. Reggio
educators explain that revised thinking about educational theories is integral to their process, and
becoming “Reggio inspired” is defined as entering into a conversation around theories of
educational practice (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006).
A new study emerged in 2017 that found no significantly different outcomes for cohorts
who attended Reggio Approach preschools versus those in non-Reggio Approach schools in the
cities of Reggio Emilia, Parma, and Padova (Biroli et al., 2017). Parma and Padova are two cities
with similar demographics to that of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy. Within the three cities, the
Reggio Approach graduates age 6, 18, 30, 40, and 50 were compared to same-age graduates of
municipal, state and religious schools, with few notable differences (Biroli et al., 2017). One
negative difference in the cohorts of the Reggio Approach schools is a lower IQ score than other
municipal and religious schools in the cities, which may be a result of less time with direct
instruction that impacts testing in Reggio Approach schools (Biroli et al., 2017). A notable
positive score is a lower rate of depression in the age-18 cohort in comparison to the cohorts in
Parma and Pardova (Biroli et al., 2017), which may be a result of the large consideration given to
the social emotional growth and well-being of the child in Reggio Approach schools. The study
does, however, see significant differences between those that attended Reggio Approach
preschools and the control group who did not attend preschool, in the age-30 and age-40 cohorts.
These differences occur in lower rates of depression, higher high school graduation rates, higher
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voting rates, higher volunteering rates, higher friend count, and lower rates of obesity (Biroli et
al., 2017).
This study faced various limitations. Loris Malaguzzi was a political activist in Northern
Italy, and many schools in the region may have been impacted by his advocacy (Biroli et al.,
2017; Cagliari et al., 2016). There are notable similarities in schools of all three cities, both
public and religious, including high parent involvement, lower teacher-student ratios, inclusion
of students with disabilities, documentation of children’s work, and (over-time) hiring of non-
secular teachers certified through higher education (Biroli et al., 2017). Many of these are related
to the frameworks of Reggio work identified in this literature review. This study may show that
these are high-impact frameworks for any preschool program to adopt. These are also some of
the frameworks that will be used to examine the work of the Progressive Academy of Southeast
Asia Early Childhood Center.
PASA and Reggio: Conclusion
Reggio literature suggests multiple frameworks that are important to the work in the
schools (Cagliari et al., 2016; Edwards et al., 2012; Gandini, 2012b; Rinaldi, 2006). These
frameworks do not encompass all that happens in Reggio. They are not intended to force what
happens in Reggio schools into dogma or specific curricula. It is understood that all schools,
classrooms, and educators function within a set of frameworks for their work with children. In
Reggio, these frameworks are founded on many theorists’ values, including Vygotsky, Piaget,
Bruner, Montessori, Dewey, and many others (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006). The theories
are examined and then continuously reexamined, questioned, and revised with new ideas born of
science, technology and theory (Cagliari et al., 2016; Forman, 2012; Forman & Fyfe, 2012;
Rinaldi, 2006).
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The frameworks discussed in this paper were the following: (a) documentation; (b) the
institution as a learning organization; (c) the hundred languages of children; (d) the space as the
third teacher; (e) unique roles in Reggio schools (including pedagogistas and atelieristas); (f) the
image of the child as a competent, capable being (which allows co-construction of knowledge);
(g) inclusion of family and community in the school; and (h) ethical practices within schools
(such as inclusion of learners regardless of ability and equal treatment for auxiliary staff). The
following chapter will discuss the study methods used to examine these frameworks in the ECC
at PASA.
The purpose of this study was to gather data to understand the ways in which the ECC is
already meeting the 2020 strategic focus for PASA. Additionally, the specific aims of this study
were to:
• Explore the underlying assumptions about the Reggio framework as they were practiced
at PASA. These underlying assumptions were explored with two populations: the
teachers and instructional assistants in the Early Childhood Center.
• Observe how these assumptions were implemented in the center.
• Make recommendations for the ECC that would help them to implement their ideal
frameworks, as inspired by Reggio Emilia municipal schools, in their daily practice.
The following research questions guided the study:
1. What are the underlying assumptions of Reggio inspiration that are used in the Early
Childhood Center at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia?
2. How are these assumptions and frameworks being implemented in day-to-day application
of the Reggio approach in the ECC at PASA?
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3. How could practices be improved in the ECC at PASA in order to reach the 2020
strategic focuses of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care?
This study was a qualitative, formative evaluation of the program in the Early Childhood Center,
three years after the adoption of a Reggio Emilia inspired approach. The formative evaluation
lent itself to a qualitative approach that allowed for a small, purposeful sampling of the ECC at
PASA to be interviewed and observed for an in-depth analysis of the program. This study further
lent itself to the qualitative design as the researcher sought to understand the experiences
(Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015) of those involved in the Early Childhood Center and their
perceptions of the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching and learning. Chapter three will further
discuss the methodology of this study.

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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA) is a large, prestigious international
school in a Southeast Asian city. In 2012, a new superintendent came to PASA and began a
large-scale change process to create an innovative school setting for the 21
st
century. After a
period of research and development (R&D) by teachers and administrators, each department in
the school began change initiatives based on the R&D team recommendations. The Early
Childhood Center (ECC) visited nine schools in Australia and New Zealand, and concluded that
inspiration from Reggio Emilia’s early learning frameworks would be the best direction for the
ECC.
The program is now three years into its development, and has redesigned spaces, hiring
practices, and professional development for the teaching team. These changes were made in
alignment with helping the school reach the strategic focus for 2020, which promises academic
excellence, new opportunities, and holistic care for all PASA students. Many programs going
through large transitions, however, are not evaluated for success until the end of their
implementation, and may fall short of the stated goals (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016).
Participants and Sampling Procedure
This study used a purposeful sample to gather in depth data to a point of saturation (or
redundancy in information) (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015) from teachers and instructional assistants
in the ECC. In a qualitative study, the researcher intends to “discover, understand, and gain
insight and therefore must select a sample from which the most can be learned,” also known as a
purposeful sample (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015, p. 96). The study used convenience sampling,
based on ECC location and participants therein (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015). Participants included
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teachers and instructional assistants (IAs), as well as parents and children. Due to reasons of
anonymity, the deputy principal was not a part of this sampling.
At the time of this study, there were twelve classroom teachers and twelve classroom IAs
working in the ECC. Given the small pool of possible participants, all teachers and IAs in the
ECC were asked to be a part of the initial focus groups, with the need for a minimum of 50%
participation. For teachers 50% voluntary participation was achieved without additional follow-
up. Focus groups in qualitative research are interviews conducted with a group of people
knowledgeable on the topic of study (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015). The focus groups for this study
explored the frameworks of Reggio inspiration that were valued by teachers in the ECC.
A similar procedure took place for the instructional assistants. All twelve classroom IAs
in the ECC were asked to be a part of an initial focus group, separate from the teacher focus
group, with the need for a minimum of 50% participation. As there was not a 50% voluntary
participation through initial electronic recruitment, follow up face-to-face recruitment ensued,
and enough participation was procured. IAs were in a separate focus group from teachers as they
have historically had a different job description from that of teachers. This viewpoint acted as
invaluable triangulation of data, and was more likely to surface if IAs were not in conversation
with teachers. From this work, and classroom observation data, three teachers and three IAs were
selected for follow up one-to-one interviews.
Follow-up interview participants were selected to represent experiences in preschool and
pre-K, and to include teacher and IA perspectives. New teachers and IAs (with five years of
experience or less in this school setting) as well as veteran teachers (with six or more years in
this school setting) were interviewed. Teacher participants were also purposefully selected in
order to represent a range of experience with Reggio-inspired settings.
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In order to recruit participants, the researcher attended one of the initial ECC staff
meetings to present her research and the basic tenets of the study, namely, an exploration of how
Reggio inspiration manifests in the ECC. At the meeting, the researcher introduced the concept
and purpose of focus groups, and followed-up with an email to all teachers and IAs seeking
participation. Due to the nature of a small setting, participation in focus groups did not remain
anonymous to those within the ECC, but did remain anonymous within the larger school context,
and within the data analysis in the paper.
Population and Demographics
As noted previously, the Early Childhood Center is made up of eight pre-Kindergarten
(pre-K) classrooms in four open-concept “hub” spaces, and four preschool classes in two “hub”
spaces. Each hub space has two teachers, two instructional assistants, and 32 children divided
into two classes that share space and, at many times, share teachers. The teachers are primarily
expatriates from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The
instructional assistants are all from the local context, and are primarily of the minority population
in the larger city context. This is relevant information, as the minority population in this city at
times face inequality in the larger city context (Velayutham, 2016). Other professionals in the
ECC include one secretary, one language teacher, one movement teacher, and a floating
instructional assistant. There is one on-site deputy principal in the ECC, and one elementary
school principal who works in a building 300 meters from the ECC.
As noted earlier, PASA is a very high performing school. In the elementary school,
students in 3
rd
through 5
th
grade scored on average in the 94
th
percentile (or higher) of students
who took the 2016 Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test. Students in the ECC are not
assessed due to their young age, but are a part of a similar demographic of children to those
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taking the MAP test at PASA. Parents of children at PASA are known to have very high
standards of achievement for their children, and can be quite demanding at times. The ECC is
sometimes parents’ first contact with the school.
PASA has a diverse student body. At the time of the study, 64% of the school’s
population were United States passport holders. The other 36% held passports primarily from
Asian countries, including, but not limited to, China, Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore, Japan, and the Philippines. Typically, children ages three to five attend the ECC, but
the school serves children ages three to 18. Many of these children speak another language at
home. For some, the ECC is their first full-immersion English language setting.
Instrumentation
There were three phases for this study: focus groups, classroom observations, and
individual interviews. The study began with one focus group of teachers and a separate group of
IAs to establish which Reggio-inspired frameworks they believed are implemented in the ECC.
This helped establish the underlying assumptions and frameworks of a Reggio inspired approach
in the ECC. The study then moved to classroom observations in order to better understand how
the frameworks were implemented in relation to the PASA 2020 strategic focus. Classroom
observations were followed by individual interviews of three teachers and three IAs. The purpose
of these interviews was to gather data of individual perceptions of work taking place in
classrooms and ask follow-up questions from observations. A semi-structured interview format
was used to search for commonly held viewpoints of teachers and IAs in relation to Reggio
inspiration. The eight frameworks outlined in the theoretical framework for this study acted as
starting points for the focus group interview questions. The initial focus group interviews
followed a semi-structured interview protocol, outlined in Table 1.
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Table 1: Focus Group Semi-Structured Interview Protocol
Overall Analysis of Cultural Frameworks
• What does Reggio inspiration mean to you?
• How has Reggio inspiration influenced your practice here at PASA?
Excellence
• What professional development (if any) has PASA provided (inside and outside the
school) that aligns with this inspiration?
• What role (if any) does documentation play in your work in the ECC?
Possibilities
• What does the Hundred Languages of Children mean to you?
• What are Reggio-inspired spaces like in the ECC? How are they developed?
• What is your experience of the new teaching hubs? Of having co-teachers?
Holistic Care
• How are children viewed in the ECC? What does the term “image of the child” mean
to you? What does PASA Reggio-inspiration value in children?
• What does inclusive practice look like in the ECC at PASA? Do you believe Reggio-
inspiration has influenced this? In what ways?
• What roles do families play in the ECC at PASA? What does communication to
families look like in your classroom? What benefits or challenges does communication
with families present?
• In what ways (if any) do you think Reggio inspiration addresses the PASA Strategic
Focus of excellence?
• In what ways (if any) do you think Reggio inspiration addresses the PASA Strategic
Focus of possibilities?
• In what ways (if any) do you think Reggio inspiration addresses the PASA Strategic
Focus of holistic care?

Follow-up observations and interview protocols were developed by the researcher as
clarifying questions and frameworks emerged from the focus group data. All questions stemmed
from the initial eight frameworks outlined in the theoretical framework.
This is a map of a timeline followed in 2017 for the institutional review board approval,
focus groups, observations and interviews:
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• July of 2017: applied for Institutional Review Board Approval through the University of
Southern California.
• Early August: Researcher introduced to all staff in the ECC, and basic tenets of the
research was presented.
• Observation: August, Back to School Night—observed parent and ECC interactions.
• Late-August and Early September: Two focus groups were conducted: one teacher and
one IA group.
• Observations: September and October of 2017 (four separate observation days
observing all participants at varying times).
• Individual interviews: November and December of 2017
Collecting data from August to December allowed for an in-depth understanding of the
frameworks of Reggio inspiration that were readily used within the ECC at the time of study.
The timeline also helped to uncover gaps in frameworks that are valued by professionals in the
ECC, but are not consistently applied.
Data Collection
Focus Groups
Focus groups are interviews that take place with a group of people that are
knowledgeable on the desired topic of study (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015). There was one teacher
and one IA focus group. The teacher focus group had six participants and the IA focus group had
five participants. As outlined in the limitations to this study, the researcher is married to one of
the preschool teachers and he was not included in the sampling due to the possibilities of bias.
Each focus group interview was conducted by the researcher. The focus group interviews took
place in the ECC waiting room, for a 60-minute period from 1:30 to 2:30. Approval for the use
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of this time came from the deputy principal before the study commenced. The focus groups took
place in August and September of 2017.
Observations
Qualitative observations require in-depth “field notes on the behavior and activities of
individuals at the research site” (Creswell, 2014, p. 190). For the purpose of this study,
observations were semi-structured, and guided by the research questions, theoretical frameworks
of Reggio inspiration, and data gathered from focus groups. Limitations of observations in early
learning settings include the ability to remain in the space unnoticed by children. This causes a
tension between engaging with the participants of the observation, or otherwise refusing to
interact with children who need assistance. In addition, observing teachers and IAs may change
the ways they would normally interact with students when the observer is not present. To
counteract this limitation, the observer was present enough times so as to become an expected
part of the routine of the classroom for children and teachers (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Various
stakeholders in the ECC were observed. Observations of parents occurred at the Back to School
Night in August to see how Reggio inspiration is presented to the community audience.
Observations of teachers, IAs, children, and (occasionally) parents in each learning hub occurred
in September and October of 2017. There were four observations in total. The first two
observations were half-day morning observations, while the third was a full-day observation to
better observe daily routines of the ECC. The fourth observation was during a teacher meeting
that continued on the topic observed in the third observation. Observations were used to
triangulate data collected through focus groups with teachers and IAs, and to see which Reggio
frameworks were applied in day-to-day teaching and learning.

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Interviews
Semi-structured, qualitative interviews require the use of open-ended questions intended
to gather data on participant perceptions and opinions (Creswell, 2014). In this study, the
researcher conducted face-to-face interviews used an interview protocol designed in response to
data collected from focus groups and classroom observations. Limitations of semi-structured
interviews include possible participant bias due to close interaction with the researcher, as well
as bias from individual participant perspectives (Creswell, 2014). In order to triangulate data, six
individual interviews will occur (three teachers and three IAs) in November and December of
2017. The interviews were between 30 to 50 minutes long, and occurred in the ECC conference
room between 1:30 and 3:30, with permission of the deputy principal, so as to respect teacher
and IA working hours. Interviews helped to better understand ways in which Reggio frameworks
were perceived and applied. See Appendix A for the interview guide.
Ethical Considerations
Participation in this study was anonymous outside of the ECC for staff and within data
analysis and presentation. It is difficult to remain anonymous within the ECC setting due to the
small-size and open, sharing culture therein. Understanding this limitation, the researcher
maintained participant anonymity in sharing of data, and stated that anonymity within the setting
is reliant on teacher and IA discretion amongst colleagues. The deputy principal was not
interviewed for this study as anonymity would not have been possible for this setting. There was
no remuneration for participation in this study, aside from recommendations for improvement.
Data Analysis
Research for the focus groups was transcribed and coded through line by line analysis
using ATLAS.ti software. Open coding, or the process of looking at all the possible frameworks
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70
within the data, occurred first (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015). Data analysis and coding used
frameworks already established from the literature, but as new frameworks emerged from the
data, they were also coded. Next, the researcher used analytical coding to further group related
ideas that emerged from the initial open coding (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015).
Coding took place in three phases, alongside the data collection. The first phase was
transcription and line by line analysis of the focus group data. Next, all observations were
transcribed from field notes and memos and open coded. Then, data was analyzed to determine
what teacher and IA perceptions needed clarification. Questions for the individual interviews
focused on clarifying necessary information. All face-to-face interviews were recorded using one
audio-recording device and were later transcribed and coded through line by line analysis.
Through an inductive process, the theoretical framework was adjusted as new information
surfaced revealing gaps in the original model (Merriam, & Tisdell, 2015).
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to uncover teacher and IA assumptions about the Reggio-
inspired work in the Early Childhood Center at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia. In
addition, the researcher observed how these assumptions influenced the day-to-day work of
teachers and IAs. The data helped to assess possible improvements to align philosophy and
practice with the 2020 PASA strategic focus. Methods for data collection included qualitative
focus groups, observations, and interviews. Analysis occurred throughout the study, and helped
to guide the semi-structured observations and interviews. The theoretical framework for the
study evolved as new themes emerged through the inductive, qualitative research method.

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CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS

The purpose of this study was to explore how Reggio frameworks are being applied in
the Early Childhood Center (ECC) in order to meet the three strategic focuses of Progressive
Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA), namely, excellence, opportunities, and holistic care. More
specifically, the purpose was to:
• Gather data to understand the ways in which the ECC is already meeting the 2020
strategic focus for PASA.
• Explore the assumptions about the Reggio framework as they are practiced at PASA with
two populations: the teachers and the instructional assistants of the ECC.
• Observe how these assumptions are implemented in the center.
• Make recommendations for the ECC that will help them to further implement their ideal
frameworks, as inspired by Reggio Emilia municipal schools, in their daily practice.
At the time of this study, the ECC was in its fourth year of transition into a more Reggio
inspired setting. Reggio inspiration does not come with an established program, but rather ideas
to help guide the inspiration. Prior to the study, formative assessment suggested a lack of clarity
around how the Reggio values, assumptions, or frameworks were implemented in the ECC. Also,
there appeared to be a difference in levels of training between the instructional assistants and the
teachers, which can end in philosophical confusion and differences in practice.
The first three chapters of this study gave an introduction to the problem of practice, a
literature review that outlines frameworks of Reggio inspiration, and a description of the
methodology of the study. This chapter discusses findings that emerged from the data collected
and analyzed through the course of this study.

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Participants
Qualitative methods were used for this case study of the ECC at PASA. Data was
collected in three phases. The first phase included two focus groups, one of teachers and one of
instructional assistants (IAs). There were six teachers in the first focus group and five
instructional assistants in the second focus group. Focus groups helped to establish the main
Reggio inspired frameworks teachers and IAs valued in their work. Table 2 summarizes the
number of participants in each focus group.
Table 2: Summary sample data for focus groups
Focus Group Number of Participants Participants (Code)
Teachers 6 Debby, Dia, Judy, Gloria, Sarah and
Shirley
Instructional Assistants (IAs) 5 Linda, Chivon, Marie, Talya and Jen

The second phase consisted of five observations of Early Childhood Center classrooms to
understand how the frameworks were applied in daily practice. Each “hub” in the ECC consists
of two classroom groups of 16 children. Within each hub there are two teachers and two
instructional assistants who work with 32 children. Table 3 shows how many teachers and IAs
from each hub participated in the study.
Table 3: Summary sample data for observations
Focus Group Number of Participants Participants (Code)
Teachers 8 Debby, Dia, Judy, Gloria, Sarah,
Shirley, Abigail, and Margaret
Instructional Assistants (IAs) 7 Linda, Maya, Chivon, Marie, Talia,
Tiana, and Jen

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In the third and final phase of the study, three teachers and three IAs were selected for
interviews. They were selected using purposeful sampling as described in chapter 3. The purpose
of the interviews was to triangulate the research findings, and to better understand the themes
that emerged in the first two phases of the study. The deputy principal was not interviewed for
the purpose of this study due to complications with anonymity within the school community.
Table 4 shows which participants engaged in follow-up interviews, and their role in the school.
Table 4: Summary sample data for interviews
Interview Number Role Participant
1 Teacher Debby
2 Teacher Shirley
3 Teacher Abigail
4 Instructional Assistant Jen
5 Instructional Assistant Chivon
6 Instructional Assistant Tiana

This chapter shares findings that emerged from the three phases of data collection, and
provides analysis of those findings in connection to the theoretical framework drawn from the
literature. The original theoretical framework for this study included eight Reggio inspired
frameworks: (a) documentation; (b) a learning organization; (c) hundred languages; (d) space as
the third teacher; (e) unique educator roles; (f) image of the child; (g) family and community
inclusion; and (h) ethical practice. Purposive sampling of participants was used in order to better
understand the frameworks of Reggio inspiration valued in the center, how these frameworks are
applied in daily work, and what improvements might be made within these frameworks in the
ECC. For purposes of anonymity, a code name has been assigned to each participant. This
section will share findings for the following research questions that guided the study:
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1. What are the underlying assumptions of Reggio inspiration that are used in the Early
Childhood Center at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia?
2. How are these assumptions and frameworks being implemented in the day-to-day
application of the Reggio approach in the ECC at PASA?
3. How could practices be improved upon in the ECC at PASA in order to reach the 2020
strategic focuses of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care?
The first section of the findings answers research questions one and two together, so that
participants’ assumptions of the Reggio frameworks are placed alongside data that highlights
participants’ day-to-day application of those frameworks. The final section answers the research
question three, specifically how teachers and IAs think practices could be improved in the ECC
in order to reach PASA’s 2020 strategic focuses of excellence, opportunities and holistic care.
Early Childhood Center at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia
The Early Childhood Center (ECC) at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA) is
a part of the elementary division (one of three divisions in the school). There are over 1,700
students enrolled in the elementary division at PASA, 176 of whom are preschool and pre-
kindergarten (PreK) students. The 112 PreK students, ages four and five, and 64 preschool
students, ages three and four, are divided into six “hub” classrooms. Each hub classroom
contains two teachers, two instructional assistants (IAs), and two “groups” of sixteen kids (32
students total). There are four PreK hubs and two preschool hubs. Due to low enrollment, one of
the PreK hubs only has one teacher, one IA, and 16 students. There is one deputy principal who
oversees the ECC, in addition to one elementary school principal.
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Themes and Findings
In the process of analyzing the data, several parts of the theoretical framework shifted.
Two new Reggio inspired frameworks emerged from the data. The first framework stems from
what Loris Malaguzzi and Carlina Rinaldi refer to as progettazione in the municipal schools of
Reggio Emilia, and in the ECC context is addressed through “concepts and inquiry” (Gandini,
2012b; Rinaldi, 2006). The second framework that emerged from the data is entitled
“relationships,” which incorporates important connections between children and adults in the
ECC. “Family and community inclusion” is no longer a framework in itself, and instead is
addressed through the “relationships” and the “documentation” frameworks.
For the purposes of the findings, the “hundred languages” and “space as the third
teacher” frameworks are presented together due to the overlapping themes that emerged:
materials and invitations for learning. “Ethical practice” and “unique educator roles” appear in
the section addressing the third research question. Figure 2 shows the changes made to the
theoretical framework in response to the data.
Research Question 1 and 2: Underlying assumptions and day-to-day application of the
Reggio approach in the ECC at PASA
Research questions number one and two focus on the Reggio approach and what
underlying frameworks of Reggio inspiration are most valued in the ECC, in addition to how and
which ones are applied. These frameworks help the ECC meet the strategic focuses of the school
in excellence, opportunities and holistic care.
Excellence
A learning organization: underlying assumptions. Three themes emerged from the
data in relation to the underlying assumptions teachers and instructional assistants (IAs) have
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Figure 2: Revised theoretical framework

about the ECC as a learning organization. These themes include (a) a shift in philosophical
thinking in the ECC in the past three years; (b) how professional development influenced this
shift in thinking and (c) teachers see themselves as “teacher researchers.” Literature suggests that
a Reggio inspired learning organization is one that (a) helps teachers link theory to practice; (b)
allows teachers to see themselves as researchers; (c) evolves as educators examine their practice
and (d) establishes an environment that considers what is best for its learners (Cagliari et al.,
2016, 2012; Edwards, 2012; Gandini, 2012e). This section will outline data showing that the
ECC at PASA has taken on the challenge to become a learning organization.
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A shift in philosophical thinking or the “Used to Be.” All participants who worked in
the ECC for more than two years experienced philosophical and physical shifts with the adoption
of Reggio inspiration. Participants experienced these shifts in their spaces, their roles as teachers,
and their personal educational philosophies. Judy, Debby, and Gloria all described in detail a
more “traditional” setting that evolved to the current Reggio inspired environment. Gloria
explained that the school shifted from a “centers approach” where “every child does the same
thing at one table, and then does the same thing at another table,” to an environment that is
“more open ended and designed to spur curiosity or debate, and thinking and wondering.” Debby
explained, “our displays look very different than what was traditionally here…you won’t see 30
of the same painting, or 30 pictures of a cat…you’ll see displays of the child’s learning process.”
Linda, Marie Jen, Tiana and Chivon all talked about their role as instructional assistants
shifting in a Reggio inspired environment as well. Specifically, all five mentioned that there were
many projects before that required “pre-cutting” and other preparations that are no longer used in
the current setting. Marie and Jen both used to prepare materials and dictate tasks to children. Jen
explained that before, “We prepared the materials and we just executed it…but now you are
really in a deep conversation with kids, and you are impacting them…you’re not just telling
them, you are listening, you are provoking them.”
Shift the space and thought follows. All teachers and IAs in the focus groups
acknowledged that the physical changes in the ECC reflected changes in their philosophy of
education. Talia, Maria, Gloria, Shirley and Debby described a shift from “overstimulating” and
“colorful” environments, to a more intentional use of space. Gloria described that her classroom
before the changes “had no windows, it was very small, and it was full of plastic toys, things that
were dirty, and puzzles that didn’t have all the pieces…[it was so colorful that it was] totally
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overstimulating.” Tiana, Debby, Shirley, Jen and Judy also discussed the shift in thinking and
philosophy. After the spaces changed, teacher thinking followed. Shirley explained that, “once
you shift your thinking, it’s how you do every single thing…every single part of your teaching
changes, like, ‘Oh I shouldn’t have said it like that! I should have asked them a different
question.’ ” Judy described how teachers are listening to the children in a new way and asking
themselves, “Why do we do what we do, and how do we make it more purposeful?” Debby
explained the deep impact that Reggio inspiration had on her own practice, and that it “is shifting
the way education really is meant to be …it’s not about teaching it’s about learning. It’s not
about control, it’s about flow. But it’s also about love, and rights…and exploring possibilities.”
The data suggests that both teachers and IAs realigned practice to create more personalized
learning. This aligns with literature that states a learning organization embraces and
acknowledges the fast paced changes happening in the world today (such as a shift towards
personalized learning experiences), while also balancing their values based on pedagogical
theories of the past and of the present (Moss, 2012; Rinaldi, 2006).
Professional development. Professional development surfaced time and again in the data
as one of the major tools that helped to realign teacher’s thinking in the new environment. The
school has sent six of the eight teachers who participated in this study to Reggio Emilia, Italy, to
see the municipal schools in action. In addition, PASA hired a specialist for the past three years
who works with teachers to improve their practices and change the learning environments. Every
interview participant described the Reggio specialist as a catalyst for change in their teaching
practice. As Abigail explained, the specialist helped the teachers start on a journey. Abigail said,
“She was very specific and inspiring in terms of how things happen, but she also [explained],
‘You can’t throw everything away, you guys are amazing professionals, what you’ve been doing
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is amazing.” Abigail described how the specialist help align what they were already doing with
Reggio inspired values and with some new practices. Literature suggests that professional
development can shift teachers’ practices, and when they begin to see results for children’s
learning, they also shift their attitudes and beliefs (Edwards et al., 2011; Guskey, 2002;
Herrington & Daubenmire, 2016). This is a key to lasting organizational change.
Teacher researcher questions. Administrators at PASA perform teacher evaluations
based on grade-level team goals. In the ECC, individual teacher goals are framed as “teacher
researcher” questions. Abigail, Shirley, and Debby all spoke about how the teacher researcher
goal impacted their instructional practice. Abigail used her research question as a lens through
which to observe children and document their work. Shirley described that the ECC at PASA is
different than most programs because teachers are active researchers who “read the research and
then use that research to inform our practices.” Shirley explained that in her own classroom, she
and her teaching partner “have done a lot of reading about questioning, and then every day when
we come in, we’re trying things out and then seeing what we can do to improve our practice.”
Being a teacher researcher allows teachers to see themselves as learners alongside the children,
and not as the sole knowledge bearers (Cagliari et al., 2016; Forman & Fyfe, 2012; Rinaldi,
2006). It sets the organization in a place to be a continually transforming learning institution. The
next section focuses on the observations of the day-to-day work, and how the ECC acts as a
learning organization in practice.
A learning organization: day-to-day. It was made clear through observations that the
teachers do act as researchers with the children as they had described in the data. Dia, Judy,
Gloria, Sarah and Shirley all actively carried a notebook, camera, or ipad, and documented
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children’s work during open-ended learning times. In addition, Abigail and Debby cited the
ECC’s professional learning community (PLC) structure as a helpful learning structure.
Professional Learning Community learning. Professional learning communities (PLCs)
at PASA were established in order to create what DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many and Mattos
(2016) refer to as collaborative teaching teams that work collectively for the benefit of student
learning. Three PLC meetings were observed for the purpose of this study. Each meeting started
with an inspirational activity brought by one of the ECC teachers. In the first meeting, teachers
established common understandings of their Reggio inspired work to use during parent-teacher
conferences. In the second and third meeting teachers collaboratively discussed concept-based
learning. This work will be explained in detail in a section below. In her interview, Debby
equated PLC meetings to an extension of professional development (PD), explaining that after a
PD session teachers return to the PLC and continue learning together. Abigail also described the
role of the PLC as a place to reflect and gather “next steps” for concept-based work. She
explained, “I think without collaborating with your team, you get lost sometimes, and sometimes
you’re so far into what you are doing that you need an outside observer to give you some
feedback.” If schools want to create spaces for innovation, akin to what happens in municipal
schools in Reggio Emilia, it requires that teachers act as innovators within their practice (Rinaldi,
2006). This happens through observation, documentation, collaboration, and professional
development (Cagliari et al., 2016; Forman & Fyfe, 2012; Moss, 2012). PLCs in the ECC act as
a collaborative forum where teachers spark new ideas and continue to develop current practices.
Disparity between teacher and IA professional learning. Data showed a difference in
the amount of time and resources devoted to teacher PD in Reggio inspired practices, and the
time devoted to IAs for the same purpose. Jen, Talia, Marie, Chivon and Tiana all described a
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desire for more opportunities to learn about the Reggio approach. Talia explained that IAs had “a
couple of sessions with [the Reggio specialist], which we found really helpful, but we wished
that we could have more of it. Right? But we didn’t really get that much.” Jen explained that in
the transition to Reggio there was a lack of communication from administration and teachers to
IAs that would aid in their understanding of the approach. Jen described how teachers “all went
to Australia, they gave teachers all the books, this and that, but none for [IAs].” In Reggio
municipal schools auxiliary staff are included in “professional development sessions on
pedagogical theories” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 150). Linda, Chivon, and Marie all explained a mistrust
or dislike for the Reggio approach. This may be in part due to a lack of understanding of the
approach. As cited above, educators will believe in a new practice once they have the knowledge
of that practice, opportunities to try it out, and have seen the results (Edwards et al., 2011;
Guskey, 2002; Herrington & Daubenmire, 2016).
Documentation: underlying assumptions. Reggio municipal schools use a form of
documentation that is not a summative act (completed at the end of a study) but rather one that
occurs during the course of the study. It acts as a formative process of documenting, gathering,
observing, discussing, redirecting, and sharing about children and their learning (Cagliari et al.,
2016; Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 2011). Three larger themes around documentation emerged
in the underlying assumptions about Reggio inspiration in the ECC at PASA. These themes
include (a) seeing documentation as a process of cyclical feedback; (b) documentation as a
process to reflect on learning and (c) documentation as a way to communicate learning to parents
and the wider community.
Cyclical feedback. All teachers interviewed, and three IAs as well, discussed
documentation as an important part of their work in the ECC. Debby and Shirley both described
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documentation as a cyclical feedback loop for their curricula. Debby explained that
documentation is a process that emerges from children’s stories and information gathered
therein. Debby described how teachers “bring [the information] to your team and you discuss it
and what project might happen next, and then you put out a provocation…And then we’ll
document it again, and then this is the cycle that continues to happen.” Shirley described a
similar cyclical process where teachers would take a photo of a child’s learning, in order for
children to comment about the photo, “And the next day we would type that up and bring that
back to them…and say, ‘This is what we did yesterday, but how can we move forward with this?
Oh! Someone said this…What does that make you wonder?’ ” Forman and Fyfe (2012) describe
this process as “negotiated learning,” through which “the teachers seek to uncover the children’s
beliefs, assumptions, or theories about the way the physical or social world works” (Forman &
Fyfe, 2012, p. 248). Teachers can deepen students’s investigations of concepts by using the
children’s beliefs and assumptions.
Reflection on learning. One of the critical parts of the cyclical process is the reflection
on children’s learning. Abigail and Judy talked about documentation as a reflection for
themselves. Judy explained that documentation:
…helps me become more reflective [about] the child. Especially at the end of the year
when I’ve collected all this data, and all these stories. And I can really see, “Oh! I can
read about this child’s personality.” It’s not just a yearbook, like photos, where you just
kind of make assumptions based on what you see. It’s the words and the interpretation.
All the things that gives you a rich picture of who the kid is. We use it a lot to drive the
learning and ensure that what we put out there is engaging and fun for the kids.
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While for Judy documentation serves as a chance to better understand each child, Abigail
described it as a reflective process for the children. Abigail explained that in the past,
documentation, “was only to share with the parents, whereas now the documentation is [used] to
reflect with the kids, interact with it, kind of deepen the journey of [their] learning.” Shirley
describes documentation as a way to reflect with children on different projects they have created,
but “in a different medium.” Shirley also saw documentation as a way for learners to take
ownership of their space in addition to reflecting on learning. Shirley described the transition
from an ECC that did not document to the present time:
…where I think the walls kind of speak, as they say in Reggio, the documentation speaks
of the children’s learning…you see sometimes children will just put a picture up because
they have that kind of agency that they can display their work, anywhere they choose,
and they know how to get materials to do it, and sometimes they even write a little
comment next to it…
In the data, there is a clear relationship between the child, the documentation, and the
teacher, which in Reggio literature is referred to as a co-construction of knowledge. Rinaldi
explains that documentation “enacted and interpreted during research and not simply at the end,
can guide the direction of the journey itself and encourage relations between children’s learning
structures and the subject of knowledge/learning itself” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 174). In this way,
children and teachers co-construct learning topics and processes.
Communicating learning to parents, community, and the world. In the data, teachers
also described how documentation shows parents and the wider community what children are
learning. Sarah, Shirley, Gloria, Debby, Dia, and Judy all described documentation as a way to
communicate student learning and ECC values to parents. Sarah explained that “showing
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questioning and responding” in documentation “is really important for parents to understand the
children’s thinking beyond a product.” This helps shift parents focus from children’s products to
the learning process. Gloria described documentation as evidence of a child’s journey, and
explained, “Documentation shows parents, really, what we value and what we’re looking for and
that it’s beyond a checklist approach; what [our administrator] would call a ‘deficit model’ of
assessing children. More what they can do than what they can’t.” Shirley broadened this by
explaining documentation can be shared beyond the parent community:
[Documentation is] how we get all of our beliefs about early childhood education, both to
the school, but also to the wider world. Through stories. Sharing the kind of children’s
successes and stories. I think that is one way that you really can share how important
children are and how capable they are with a wider audience…I think documentation has
an enormous power to change people’s image of children as well.
Shirley described sharing a project children had created on climate change with the whole
school community, and how amazed people were that young children were capable of tackling a
big topic. As stated in the literature review, documentation allows parents a window into the
“how and why” of their children’s work in school. Rinaldi (2006) explains that documentation
“is an opportunity for parents to see unknown aspects of their child, to see, in a certain sense, the
‘invisible’ child that parents are rarely able to see” (p. 59). The data suggests that documentation
has been a powerful tool for parents to see what happened in the transition from a more
traditional setting to a Reggio inspired environment.
Documentation: day-to-day. It was clear through observation that documentation has
become a daily practice in the ECC at PASA. Dia carried a camera in hand and a notebook she
scribbled children’s words into. Debby, Judy, Gloria, Sarah, and Shirley had an iPad nearby to
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take photos or type up children’s quotes. Maya, Chivon, and Linda were all observed writing
children’s stories onto a painting or project the children created. There is documentation on the
walls in every classroom. In two rooms, there were teacher-posted questions with children’s
investigative answers, wonderings, or hypothesis on the topic. In another room there was an
entire wall of family photos alongside children’s renditions of family portraits and words
reflecting on the meaning of family. Two other rooms had a photo as well as typed documents of
teacher descriptions of the learning process or event. The observations were made over a period
of a month, and the documentation on all classroom walls shifted and changed in that time.
Documentation in the life at ECC emerged in four themes in the interview data, namely, (a)
teacher researchers; (b) learning journeys; (c) technology and documentation, and (d)
instructional assistants’ relationship to documentation.
Teacher researchers. As described in the literature review, Rinaldi (2012) believes that
when “teachers make listening and documentation central to their practice, they transform
themselves into researchers” (p. 244). In Reggio schools, there is a view that to truly develop
one’s practice as a teacher-researcher, the teacher must practice documentation (Rinaldi, 2006).
Debby explained that in the ECC, the documentation teachers create and bring to
meetings with other teachers is used “for our own research.” If teachers are looking for examples
of collaboration, they might look through the individual “learning journey” documentation books
on each child to find examples that represent collaboration. Debby further explained that in
documenting, “We've captured [the learning]. We bring it to the table. We discuss it. And it
helps us describe the learning. It helps us moving forward.” Abigail described that she and the IA
she works with, “touch base two or three times a day and say, what did you see? Where are we
going with this? How does this relate to our concept?...Let’s look at our pictures and put them
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together.” The documentation helps to guide next steps in the learning. Literature suggests that in
practicing documentation as a teacher researcher, the teacher constantly examines both her own
practice and the children’s thinking (in collaboration with other teachers), just as a scientist
would do (Dahlberg, 2012). Documentation in the ECC allows teachers to act as scientists to
further children’s learning in targeted and accurate ways.
Learning Journeys. Each child in the ECC at PASA has a blank notebook dedicated as a
form of individual documentation. Through observation, it became clear that the learning journey
notebooks are used differently in different classrooms. In one room, one child was observed
taking the book out themselves and creating a picture inside without a teacher. In another room,
the teacher sat with children individually asking them to reflect on a picture of a project,
prompting them with questions such as, “So what would you like to draw here?” and, “What do
you wonder about when you did this?” Children reflected by drawing pictures, writing words
with support, or by teacher’s documenting what the child said about the work. As Debby
explained, “You might see a lot of children’s stories and the image of the child projected in our
documentation, or just, you see the children’s words, and then maybe our interpretation of what
they might be thinking.” Abigail explained that in her classroom, the learning journey is a
combination of “learning moments that I’m doing with the children, some of their work, some of
their reflections, pictures that they’ve chosen…they help me choose ones that are really
meaningful to them.”
Gloria described how the documentation in the learning journeys are “meaningful
moments” the teacher felt “really supported their growth. It was like a real big ‘aha!’ moment for
them. [The learning journey is] a collection of those.” Judy explained that the learning journey
acts as a document to show parents, what their child is capable of accomplishing. Shirley
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referred to the learning journey as a “document of possibilities” that followed the child into
Kindergarten, in order to show teachers what the child is capable of. In addition to being a
critical learning reflection for children, documentation is also a powerful entry point for parents
and community members into progressive education (Cagliari et al., 2016; Moss, 2012). The
learning journeys in the ECC at PASA allow this to be an individual reflection in addition to a
class-wide or small group reflection.
Technology and documentation. As noted above, technology assists documentation in
the ECC in various ways. In the collection stage, teachers use digital cameras, phones, or iPads
to take pictures. Debby explained to parents at Back to School Night that teachers would be
sharing documentation through an online platform called Storypark. Debby described that each
child would have a “portal” to weekly updates, both in large groups or on individual children.
Gloria, Debby, Shirley, and Judy all mentioned their use of Storypark and the ease with which
they were able to share information and documentation with parents. Shirley explained,
“Increasingly, we do group observations [as opposed to individual observations] and we put
those in Storypark. We’ve had amazing feedback from the parents about that, and they’ll
comment back. It has become more of a dialogue with the parents too.” Gloria explained that by
communicating on Storypark with parents about student’s open-ended math investigations,
parents could see that the children “don’t need to sit at a worksheet and write numbers. This is so
much richer.
Documentation like this shows that they’re co-constructing knowledge in math.” One
teacher used a separate application to turn pictures into comic book pages with speech bubbles
describing the math learning she witnessed at the math investigation that day. Technology has
opened new avenues for documentation to be shared out with parents, for parents to interact with
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teachers, and for children to reflect on their learning. Forman (2012) explains that in Reggio
municipal schools, they explore the possibilities of integrating the technological and social world
of children. The ECC is starting to explore some of these possibilities through documentation.
Instructional assistants and documentation. In the focus group with instructional
assistants, it became clear that there are varying opinions on the documentation process, as well
as confusion as to whether it is a part of the IAs role. Marie wondered aloud to another IA, “Are
you saying you have to document everyone in the classroom?...I don’t think teachers
[document]…everyone.” Linda responded that she doesn’t document, “Maybe the teachers
observe more? And document [the children]?” She later explained, however, that she does write
down children’s words about their artwork or projects, which is a form of documentation.
Talia and Jen had varying opinions on documentation. Jen said that the Reggio specialist
had worked with IAs on documentation, but then she explained, “I think documentation is great
if they get another person to document. Because what happens now is, one teacher, with thirty
kids, documenting two kids, the rest are all tumbling down. It is tough on us.” Talia felt,
however, that documentation was a powerful tool, and explained:
as adults, we have our own perception of what [children] are doing, but actually their
perception of what they are doing is different from ours…[So we document in order to]
make sure we are all actually on the same page, which I think is a bit lacking for
now…because right now, I think the teachers document, but there was no actual
reflecting with the kids yet.
It appears from the data some IAs do not have a clear concept of documentation, others feel that
it is difficult to balance documentation with classroom management, and still others felt (at the
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time) that teachers were not actively using documentation as a reflection tool with children. The
gap between IA and teacher opinion will be discussed further under research question three.
Concepts and inquiry: underlying assumptions. Reggio municipal schools use what
they call progettazione, which is based in the word progettare, a verb describing the design
process in engineering. The noun, progettazione, describes a planning process used to engage
children’s ideas in order to co-construct outcomes of class investigations (Edwards et al., 2011).
Reggio municipal schools do not sell a “curricula,” and in the literature, Rinaldi explains her
distress that visitors from other countries “try and standardise our ways of working into a
programme: first of all you do this, then that, then something else” (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 200).
Progettazione, in a sense, is the curricula of Reggio municipal schools. It has been described as
“emergent curricula” in English, although Rinaldi argues this is a misnomer, as the term
emergent curricula does not capture the full scope of progettazione (Rinaldi, 2006).
A theme emerged in the data for this study that is akin to that of progettazione, that goes
beyond emergent curricula. The teachers and administrators at PASA have created a framework
for the curricula that happens in ECC classrooms. This framework combines concept-based
curricular work, based on the work of Erickson, Lanning, and French (2017), and an inquiry-
based approach to learning, influenced by the work of Murdoch (2015). This theme from the data
shifted the theoretical framework for this study, and is now included under the heading of
“excellence.” This section will outline themes of concepts and inquiry as they appeared in the
data. Themes include (a) teachers as guides; (b) concepts versus content; (c) inquiry as a method
for concept teaching and learning and (d) inquiry and “learning how to learn.”
Teachers as guides. In order to make meaning of the world, teachers and children in
Reggio municipal schools practice documentation and co-construction of knowledge (Dahlberg,
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2012; Forman & Fyfe, 2012). Within this co-construction of knowledge at PASA, Tiana,
Abigail, Shirley, and Debby all referenced teachers as guides for children. Tiana explained,
“because [the kids] are three years old…we need to guide them. Because they have lots of ideas,
but they do not know how to sequence it first.” Abigail described that the “teacher’s job is to
make sure the students don’t get lost. They don’t lose sight of their actual goal, or [the teacher’s]
goal.” Abigail described questioning as one of the tools that she uses to guide children, where
Shirley referred to it more as “wondering aloud” for children. Each child in Shirley’s classroom
has a “wonder journal,” and Shirley keeps a journal for herself as well. Shirley explained that as
she works side-by side with the children in their research, “I’ll just say, ‘Oh, I wonder about
this,’ and then they’ll go, ‘Oh! I wonder too!’” Shirley also described that with so many ways the
concept-based projects manifest, “We’re keeping them on track by deepening their knowledge
through a range of materials.” Debby described that her job as a guide is to find “just the right
challenge” in explorations and investigations for children. Debby explained, “If it's too hard and
they're just walking away, then [I ask myself] how can I facilitate it or set up the environment to
make it an attainable goal for a child.” Debby went on to explain that “the way I would facilitate
it would be to provide research, and provide the answer, but not tell the answer. Never tell the
answer.” This data suggests that, in order for a teacher to act as a guide in concept-based work,
she must (a) think of appropriate scope and sequence for young children in their investigations of
concepts; (b) provide appropriate investigations to challenge children and (c) use wondering and
questioning as tactics to “keep children on track” in the work.
Concepts versus content. The ECC professional learning community explored concept-
based work as this study progressed. Teachers worked together in meetings to continue their
professional learning on the topic. The deputy principal led these meetings, and used information
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based in the work of Erickson et al. (2017). In the first PLC meeting, teachers sorted out the
differences between concept and content learning in the classroom. As Debby described it,
content is “the what” children are studying, and concepts are “the why.” She explained to her
partners that children were really excited about exploring outer-space in her hub, and that would
be an example of content, or “the what.” She did not describe at that time the concept that
connected that study. Shirley explained that concept learning “is more like learning how to
learn.” Judy felt that content-specific learning “is more like rote memorization,” as opposed to
learning how to learn. Judy saw facts and content as a “stepping stone to reach the concepts.”
Shirley described content as “isolated puzzle pieces,” and Debby saw concepts as “the big
picture.” Erickson et al. (2017) explain that when concepts “become the ‘drivers’ for learning,
[teachers] lead students to deeper understandings that transfer across different situations” (p.11).
Concept and content work in the day-to-day life of the classrooms is further explained below,
and becomes a key part of the recommendations of this study.
Concepts and experience. One of the tenants of concept-based learning that surfaced in
the data is that children grow through experience. Debby, Shirley, and Judy described an
educational setting where children are encouraged to explore and find answers to their questions,
rather than having a teacher tell the answers to the questions directly. As Shirley explained in the
PLC meeting, “Today George learned himself that the map was the whole world! We did this
thing where we had an orange, we drew on the orange then we peeled it and made it flat, he was
like, ‘It’s the whole world! It’s just flat!’” George (age 4) was observed describing his
exploration of maps during a class meeting. George explained, “We put the letters on it to say
Earth ball. And we put the countries on it. And we cut the paper and then we sticked it, we
sticked the tape on the ball with the map paper.” George was asked if the object, a ball with a
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group of papers in the shape of countries taped to it, was a globe or an earth. George responded,
“It’s an Earth ball.” From an educational perspective, it is clear that George is building on the
concept of mapping, spatial reasoning, and an understanding that the Earth is round, not flat. At
age four, these are big ideas, that in a traditional prekindergarten setting, George might not have
the opportunity to explore. Erickson et al. (2017) explain that while it is important to remember
facts, that kind of thought processing involves less advanced cognitive work. In order to
“stimulate more sophisticated, complex thinking, we need to create a synergy between the
simpler and more complex processing centers in the brain” which requires processing on two
levels, the factual level and the conceptual level (Erickson et al., 2017, p. 11). Thus, George is in
the process of engaging in higher level cognitive work in his exploration of the globe.
Concepts and problem solving. Data suggested that children actively solve problems
through the course of their concept-based learning. As Shirley described it, “concept learning is
based more on problem-solving and questions, whereas [content learning] is more like, ‘You
need to know this. Why? Because you need to know this.’” Erickson et al. (2017) describes the
need for interplay between content-based and conceptual knowledge in order to create long-
lasting impacts on children’s thinking. George was observed in this problem-solving process,
guided by Shirley. George needed more information, and Shirley, with computer in hand, asked
George, “I wonder what else we could use, is there anyone else in the school who could help us
learn more about maps?” George suggested looking in books for information. Shirley invited him
to visit the ECC librarian, and they rehearsed what he might ask her. They rehearsed what he
would do if the librarian was not there, and he could not ask at that time. George travelled with a
friend to ask the librarian for books, and later that day, the classroom received a stack of books
all about maps and mapping. There was a high level of engagement in the process of George’s
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shared problem-solving methods in order to find more information. In addition, the process
generated further questions from the information discovered in the books.
Concepts and questioning. Abigail, Jen, Talia, Linda, Tiana, and Shirley all described
how teachers needed to better understand asking questions with the shift towards more authentic
learning. Tiana described the setting as more “hands on with the kids” and explained that
teachers, “need to probe [the children] with questions: why, why, why, why, what, how, all the
five w’s and one h.” Abigail explained that her job as a concept-based teacher, “is to help the
learning be authentic, and to ask questions, and model questions, and have them come up with
questions that project their learning forward.” Concept-based learning requires teachers to have a
more in-depth understanding of the types of questions they can ask to guide children’s learning.
As Shirley described, “Most questions are kind of either instructive or just to get children to do
things, like, ‘Oh do you want to put your bag away now?’ Rather than asking their actual
knowledge.”
Research suggests there are several kinds of questioning methods used in education. Two
primary forms of questions in the research include open questions, that elicit “higher cognitive”
brain response, and closed questions, that require factual or “lower level” responses, often used
in redirecting behavior (Kiss & Wang, 2017; Newton, 2001; Redfield & Rousseau, 1981). Some
research suggests that asking more open or “higher cognitive” questions, like “what if…”
questions, can lead to positive gains in learning for students (Kiss & Wang, 2017; Newton, 2001;
Redfield & Rousseau, 1981). Questioning surfaced as an area of focus in the observation phase
of this study. Through the observations of five different classrooms, and 15 teachers and
instructional assistants, 118 instances of closed or instructive questions were recorded, in
comparison to 62 open questions intended to guide further thought. This means teachers and IAs
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are nearly twice as likely to ask a closed question than an open question in current practices. This
will be further discussed in response to the third research question below.
Concepts and story. Young children often engage with new learning in the form of
dramatic play, through oral storytelling, or through literature (Bodrova, 2008; Gupta, 2008;
Vygotsky, 1980). As Debby described in an interview, story is a device teachers use to introduce
concepts. Debby explained that in one hub, the concept of transformation was explored through a
book, and then children were able to see the many ways through which they had used
transformation in their environment, and “all of a sudden, the word is given, [and] so is the
understanding.” In another instance, three children were observed highly engaged in the block
area in Judy’s classroom. Judy explained that children were not engaging with the blocks in the
classroom until train tracks appeared, and the possibility of a measurement investigation opened
up. Children were invited into the block area through the story possibilities of trains and train
tracks. What started as a story became an exploration of measurement of the tracks through non-
standard measurement units. In Judy’s classroom, children were also exploring color, and were
invited to tell stories about different colors that they had painted with. This again allows children
to engage with a concept, through their own stories. As Erickson et al. (2017) describe, “Creative
thinking is the personal construction of meaning. Creative thinking employs imagination and
playful tinkering with shapes, sounds, colors, words, and ideas” (p. 20). Storytelling acts as a
pathway to creative thinking in the early childhood classroom.
Inquiry as a method for concept teaching and learning. Data from PLC discussions
suggested that inquiry-based learning and concept-based learning complement one another, but
are different. Three teachers discussed this topic in their interviews. Shirley and Debby both
described that concepts can be explored through inquiry teaching methods. Debby explained,
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“you might have concept-based learning [as the goal], and the approach is more through
inquiry…So through investigations, through provocations, through questioning.” Shirley
explained, “I think inquiry is one of the methods we use to teach the concept-based curriculum,
[inquiry] is one of several tools we draw upon.” Abigail made the distinction that inquiry, as a
teaching method, could be enacted without a conceptual foundation. During her visit to Reggio
Emilia municipal schools, Abigail heard the leaders say, “The concept is that everlasting
impression and thing that you want the kids to believe in.” Abigail felt that concepts anchored
inquiry investigations and questions to something more meaningful and lasting. Erickson et al.
(2017) explain that when children are asked to integrate factual and conceptual knowledge, it
creates what some scholars refer to as “enduring understanding,” “essential understanding,” or
“big ideas” that are transferrable across multiple situations and contexts (p. 16). It is important to
have a conceptual base to the inquiry work in the classroom, so children can form enduring
understandings.
Inquiry and learning how to learn. Murdoch (2015) promotes the idea that teaching
children how to learn is just as important as teaching them what to learn. By giving explicit
instruction to learning how to learn, children become increasingly independent in their inquiry
learning. In the ECC, this process of “learning how to learn” surfaced through interviews and
observations. Two themes emerged to support inquiry as a learning process. The first is “children
as researchers” and the second is the inquiry learning cycle in the classroom.
Children as researchers (MISO). Philosophically, education tends to see children either
as the “empty vessel” to be filled with knowledge, or as young researchers and investigators,
capable of finding out new knowledge given the opportunity and context to do so (Dahlberg et
al., 1999). Children, like scientists, make meaning through research and investigation. Both
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Malaguzzi and scientist David Hawkins “were convinced that children take the same attitude
towards the world as scientists: asking questions…advancing and trying out hypotheses,
developing and revisiting theories” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 282). In her interview, Debby
explained that she would never provide an immediate answer to a child’s inquiry or wondering,
because without a foundation of background knowledge, the child may not understand the
answer. Debby said, instead, she would “provide books, provide the research, look it up together,
[and] find resources to build understanding.” Shirley gave a specific example of this process
from her classroom. The children in Shirley’s hub were investigating sea turtles and noticed how
small the turtles could be. The children knew from conversation with their other teacher, Sarah,
that sea turtles can eat jellyfish, but they wondered how a tiny turtle could eat a large jellyfish.
Shirley asked them, “Does the size of a sea turtle make a difference to what they eat?” This
prompted further research and, as Shirley explained, “we looked in different books. We cross-
referenced our sources. And we used the contents page, and they eventually discovered that the
smaller ones eat tiny droplets of oil they find in the seaweed. Who knew?” Shirley had a choice
as a teacher in this situation. She could have looked up the answer quite quickly using online
resources, but instead she took children through the research process using multiple books on the
topic. Murdoch (2015) recommends that teachers instruct children in the art of finding
information through one of four sources: media, interviews, surveys, or through observation
(MISO), just as a real researcher would do.
Learning cycles: prior knowledge, wonder, and extending children’s thinking. Learning
in a Reggio inspired environment is cyclical. The four stages of Merrill’s (2002) research-based
learning cycle match well with a similar cycle that presented itself in the data for this study.
Merrill (2002) suggested that teachers center learning around real-world problems, activate prior
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knowledge, demonstrate how to find the answers based in conceptual understandings, and give
learners a chance to apply new learning. In the ECC at SAS, the data showed that teachers tap
into children’s prior knowledge, draw out student wonderings, investigate the wonderings with
students, and then extend children’s thinking through further questioning. Debby referred to this
as “co-constructed” learning, a process that is a cyclical sharing of ideas and information from
student to teacher and back to student. There is a balance that teachers must find between
understanding and assessing students’ prior knowledge, and accessing moments for new
learning. Abigail explained, “the one phrase they kept saying when we were in Reggio was,
‘Why would you teach kids something that they already know?’” Debby described her role in
finding this balance between prior knowledge and new wondering. She explained that when a
child has a wondering her “job is to facilitate and bring in some prior knowledge from research,
or from a story, or from my knowledge, or from another child's knowledge.” Shirley described
the process of assessing prior knowledge when introducing a new topic. Shirley explained that
children can only build new thinking upon prior knowledge, and that creative thinking is the
process of “bringing those ideas in a different combination, in a different way, into something
new.” Merrill (2002) describes creation as ownership of the knowledge or skill to the point
where the student brings it outside of one context and into a new context (p. 51). This mirrors
what Shirley was seeing in her room as creative thought.
Concepts and inquiry: day-to-day. Classroom observations brought forward several
questions about the concept and inquiry work taking place in the ECC hubs at PASA. These
questions were brought to participants during individual interviews, and several themes emerged
through these discussions, including (a) planning for the concept work; (b) how teachers sustain
interest in a concept and (c) how children’s interest can be contagious for other children.
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Planning. Observation of the hubs showed that in each classroom children explored
different themes and concepts. In one hub, children studied the concept of transformation
through caterpillars and butterflies as well as the concept of color. In another hub, children
developed a deeper understanding of belonging by exploring home, neighborhood, and school. In
a third hub, children explored the concept of migration, which is particularly relevant to the lives
of international school students, through the lens of sea turtles. All of this showed evidence of
thoughtful planning. Abigail described a common misconception with Reggio inspired work, that
it is sometimes perceived as a “free for all” and “all about the kids’ ideas.” Abigail explained
that, in her understanding of Reggio inspired work, learning is based in a concept and guided by
the teacher through planning and thoughtful presentation of activities or materials to provoke
further thought.
Shirley and Debby both explained what this concept-based planning process looks like
for their teams. Debby described a cyclical process where she and her co-teacher look at their
concept-based unit planner once every two weeks to find themes and new ideas for provocations.
Daily, Debby and her co-teacher discuss how to “extend a certain learning moment.”
Specifically, Debby gave the example of children acting out a house on fire in the dramatic play
area, and she and her co-teacher planned to discuss how people rescue one another the next day.
Shirley described more in-depth what the concept-based planner looked like for her team.
Shirley and her co-teacher start with one of four macroconcepts (called “concept lenses” in the
ECC), which include environment, community, symbolic languages, or identity. Erickson et al.
(2017) define macroconcepts as broad concepts that “can encompass many different examples”
or many different microconcepts (p. 46). At the time of the interview, Shirley felt the class was
exploring identity and environment. Within the macroconcepts, Shirley chose microconcepts
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(what she called “guiding concepts”), which for the study of environment and identity included
“migration, environment, habitat, lifecycles, [and] protection.” Within a concept-based study, the
content, or “facts,” can vary from study to study (Erickson et al., 2017; Murdoch, 2015). This is
evidenced by Shirley’s environment and migration study, which focused on sea turtles and the
potential protection needed for the turtles. It should be noted here that Shirley and her co-teacher
had interpreted the ECC macro-concept “environment” as the natural environment and human
impact on that environment. It became evident through observation that this term “environment”
could also include the classroom environment, if teachers chose to explore that instead. This
open interpretation of concepts will be discussed further in response to the third research
question below.
Shirley and Debby both cited a final planning stage of reflection. This reflection on the
plans, and the documentation of how children are interacting with the information, spurs new
learning provocations. Shirley and her co-teacher look specifically at child engagement, as well
as “what were seen as the challenges [of the study], what were seen as the successes, and the
strengths, and the skills…[in addition to] next steps, or next possibilities for reflection.”
Sustaining interest. Observational data showed that concept-based work requires
teachers to engage as many children as possible in the conceptual study, while still in an
environment that offers exploration of other stations or materials. It was clear from the data that
many teachers had put thought and effort into how to sustain children’s interest in the conceptual
study. In the individual interviews teachers addressed what tools are used to sustain interest over
time, and how to engage children in the conceptual learning. Debby, Shirley, and Abigail listed
many ways that teachers continue to engage children, including: (a) questions; (b) provocations;
(c) thoughtfully chosen materials and compelling media; (d) actionable issues, such as human’s
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environmental impact; (e) documentation and looking closely at what children are discussing as
a way to spur further thought; (f) using peer relationships to inspire further conversation; (g)
opportunities for student collaboration; and (h) teacher engagement and presence. Debby
described that, “one of the biggest things that sustains their interest is staying with the children,
[if] I walk away, a lot of times, their energy and excitement will kind of fizzle…I feel like being
present really matters.” Debby also pointed out that within Reggio inspiration, teachers see the
classroom environment as a possible “third teacher,” in which case, “it might be a matter of
providing and setting up the environment for sustained thinking and learning” about the
concept. One clear example of actionable issues providing engagement surfaced in Shirley’s
interview. As Shirley explained, when her students found out that sea turtles are sometimes
killed by plastic in the ocean, they were really worried, which acted as a catalyst that “pushes
them [and] motivates them to carry on with the research.” Erickson et al. (2017) state that
amongst other benefits to concept-based curricula, students “are personally intellectually
engaged and demonstrate greater motivation for learning” (p. 216). Shirley and co-teacher sought
compelling content for their young learners that would engage them in the concepts of
environment and migration.
Contagious interest. Peer relationships and collaboration were both cited as ways to
sustain student interest in a topic. Shirley, Debby, and Abigail in their interviews all described
examples of this happening in their classrooms. Debby explained that she and her co-teacher
“bring new wonderings [at the beginning of a study] to a group [of children] because it's
contagious.” She described that young children want to share their knowledge, and can use
background knowledge to help one another better understand content and concept. Debby
explained that one child may not have had an experience with fires, but others who had been
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camping, could describe fire in detail. This created a shared interest amongst the whole group.
Shirley explained that sea turtle protection arose in her classroom out of contagious interest:
…generally, we do find that the excitement that comes from the group, you can kind of
tell when you’ve got something that is going to stick, because you can kind of feel that
they’re all passionate and interested. There is a high level of motivation…I mean the
whole thing about the plastic, we didn’t even mention it. One girl just saw in a book, a
turtle eating a plastic bag, then one child said, “They think it’s a jellyfish!” And then that
just started a whole research [study] into that topic.
Similarly, Abigail described that through a discussion of belonging, one of the macroconcepts
studied in her classroom, contagious interest had spurred the creation of a neighborhood study.
The origin of the neighborhood study started with a conversation between two children. In
Abigail’s words, the two children explained that:
they really belong to their family and to their house, that’s one of their most important
places because that’s where their families gather. And they said, “Oh but our houses are
actually quite close to each other,” so they started taping [houses] together. So then, other
kids were listening to this conversation…and they said, “Oh, my house is close to you
guys too, and that’s where my family is.” And then other kids said, “Yeah, but what
about, our school? Our school is like a family, but it’s not a house.” And [the kids said],
“Oh we should add that in.” And they started taping all of these things together.
Through a discussion of belonging, the children conceptually pieced together family, home,
neighborhoods, and school. Two children helped to spur this learning for the whole group.
Concept-based learning is a theme that emerged from this study, and is potentially one of
the most critical frameworks of Reggio inspired instruction. It is a complex and intricate
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framework that requires teachers to have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the art of
teaching through concepts and inquiry. The ECC at PASA has laid the foundation for this work
to take place, but there remain ways in which this work can improve. These will be discussed in
response to research question three that follows.
This section of Chapter Four explored three frameworks of Reggio inspiration in relation
to PASA’s vision of providing excellence for every student. These frameworks, as they are used
in the ECC, include: (a) the creation of a learning organization; (b) the ways that teachers apply
the practices of documentation; and (c) the ways in which teachers are using concept-based and
inquiry approaches to instruction. The next section describes frameworks of Reggio inspiration
that address PASA’s mission of providing opportunities for all students.
Opportunities
Space as the third teacher and the Hundred Language of Children: underlying
assumptions. Throughout his life in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Loris Malaguzzi encouraged people to
value children as human beings who are capable of complex thought (Cagliari et al., 2016). He
advocated that children discover new things through different media, but traditional schools
often limit children by giving them the bare minimum (Cagliari et al., 2016; Rinaldi, 2006).
Malaguzzi described in a poem that children use “a hundred languages” to experience the world,
which could include text, artwork, emotions, food, numbers, logic, or technology (Cagliari et al.,
2016). In the 1970s, Malaguzzi wrote that there “can be no doubt about the close and binding
interaction between school architecture, the functions and meanings of its furniture and
equipment, and its educational contents, method and objectives” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 217).
There was a strong link, in his eyes, between the materials provided for children and the space in
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which the materials were presented. This carefully crafted space for children, as Rinaldi
described, becomes the “third teacher” (Rinaldi, 2006).
In the initial focus group interviews, it was evident that the seven teachers in the ECC at
PASA were thoughtful about the spaces they were creating for children. As Judy described,
teachers want to create classrooms in the ECC where children can “understand what’s happening
in the space” because there is a logical flow from place to place that “makes sense to the
children.” Dia explained that teachers want to create spaces that “allow for small group work
[and large group] connection times.” She went on to say that teachers must be thoughtful about
how they “can allow the children to own the space…to make choices in the space, and to be able
to work in those spaces” independently. When children are able to navigate spaces
independently, teachers have greater ability to focus on individuals and small groups, rather than
managing how children are acting in the space.
Debby explained that teachers set up spaces in the ECC with intention. As Debby
described her own room, she explained, “We have quiet spaces for children to just find their way
if they need a little bit of peace and quiet…[and] we have active spaces and larger spaces for
gathering.” Debby also described that, in her classroom, children express themselves through
different media presented throughout the space, as Malaguzzi advised in his writings.
Logistically, in large hubs, Debby and Dia asked the question, “How do you make a big place
feel small, or to feel cozy?’” They also wanted to create a flexible environment. “The furniture
has wheels, we are able to shift things we need to…so it looks different every year, and it’s going
to change throughout the year.” Dia, Judy, and Debby captured several assumptions about spaces
in the ECC, which other teachers expanded upon. These include (a) documentation and space;
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(b) classroom structure and (c) the intentions in setting the space. These ideas will be discussed
further in this section.
Documentation. As described in the Excellence section chapter four, documentation is a
critical piece to Reggio inspired learning. Documentation allows teacher researchers to catalogue
children’s learning and then present it back to children, to extend their thinking or provoke new
directions for the study (Rinaldi, 2006). In the focus group interviews, Shirley and Dia
specifically referenced documentation in the ECC spaces. Shirley described a philosophical shift
that happened after she came to the ECC, from displays that contained pre-cut alphabet letters, to
a space “where the walls kind of speak, as they say in Reggio, the documentation speaks of the
children’s learning.” Shirley described that “sometimes children will just put a picture up
because they have that kind of agency that they can display their work, anywhere they choose,
and they know how to get materials to do it.” In this way, children display ownership of the
space due to a carefully crafted environment by the teacher. Dia explained that her role is to
create an intentional space, where the teachers “can hear the voices [of the children] in that
space, document it, and observe it, well and deeply…setting up a space like that, then it just
allows for everything else to kind of happen.” A great deal of thought goes into how to structure
environments like Shirley and Dia describe. In addition to providing documentation in the ECC,
teachers are also very thoughtful about the esthetics of the rooms.
Classroom structure: light, sound, texture, color. Reggio municipal schools are
particularly thoughtful about the aesthetics of classroom environments for children (Gandini,
2012a). As Gandini (2012a) explains, the “structures, choice of materials, and attractive ways in
which educators set them up for the children become an open invitation to explore” (p. 319).
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When setting a classroom environment, Reggio educators consider light, color, natural materials,
and traffic flow from one area to the next (Gandini, 2012a; Rinaldi, 2006).
All seven teachers in one focus group and all five instructional assistants (IAs) in the
other focus group discussed the transition from the old, more “traditional” ECC at PASA to the
newly renovated Reggio inspired spaces. Talia explained that the classrooms transitioned from
closed, brightly painted spaces to “totally open” hubs, with lots of neutral colors and materials
inspired by nature. One teacher explained that her classroom before renovations “was nicknamed
‘the cave’…it had no windows, it was very small, and it was full of plastic toys, things that were
dirty, and puzzles that didn’t have all the pieces.” Gloria described brightly painted walls that felt
“overstimulating” for children visually. Using what she understood from the Reggio inspired
environments, Gloria began to consider color and space in order to remove many plastic
materials and create a calmer space. Gloria explained that she saw a shift in “the behavior and
the calmness of the children from previous years in different environments.” In the renovation of
the space, most of the walls that connect the learning hubs became floor to ceiling glass
windows. Teachers culled materials and brought in new rugs, lamps, and furniture. Sarah
described that the spaces were now brighter and more open, that the “windows allow for
transparency of learning, [and the] color tone pallets in the classroom are all very neutral
allowing for the children to be expressive if they need to be and so that we can acknowledge
their work.” As Sarah explained, sound, textures, and color all helped to transform spaces.
The teacher focus group indicated an understanding that the neutral tones allow for
children to be calmer in the space, as well as allowing for the children’s work to be more of a
focal point when it is displayed on the walls. From the IAs perspective, all five expressed a
distaste for the lack of color, and for the lining of children’s work with black construction paper.
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As Jen stated, “What is black? [Why is it] so important? Black for Asians is a [color for]
mourning, dying…when there’s death, black is the color. That’s why we don’t use black,
because that’s very heavy.” Marie explained further, “Because if you don’t have colors that
means your life is not colorful…I like colors in the classroom.” Color and tone can be a cultural
value, and might be a point for consideration when modeling Reggio inspired spaces in different
countries.
Intention. Educators in Reggio Emilia see the classroom “space as a ‘container’ that
favors social interaction, exploration, and learning, but they also see space…as containing
educational messages and being charged with stimuli toward interactive experience” (Gandini,
2012a, p. 320). Reggio teachers create spaces that support their curricular investigations, while
also allowing for children to leave their own mark on the environment. Shirley and Talia both
explained that the spaces are only one element of a Reggio inspired approach to education.
Shirley explained that the “values and beliefs” were most important to the approach, “as opposed
to the environment, the environments are beautiful, but…it’s the actual shift in thinking that’s
made the difference” in the educational experience for children in the ECC at PASA. In Talia’s
words, “Is it better? I think the physical environment doesn’t really matter to me…Esthetically it
looks beautiful. But…you can have a beautiful school, beautiful materials, but if it’s not
implemented properly, then, it defeats the whole purpose.” It is important to create spaces that
inspire children and allow for their learning to be documented in meaningful ways and to create a
space that can act as the third teacher. The educational values that Reggio educators advocate for
are equally as important, according to the data. The next section examines spaces as they are in
the day-to-day life of the ECC at PASA, based on observational and interview data.
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Space as the third teacher and the Hundred Languages of Children: day-to-day.
Literature describing Reggio spaces indicates that there should be an “overall softness” to the
classrooms, and that they should offer multi-sensory experiences through light, texture, and
materials (Gandini, 2012a, p. 324). Walking into the ECC at PASA, there is an observed sense of
calm amidst a great deal of activity for the children. There are glass windows dividing
classrooms, large open hub spaces filled with natural materials, large lamps and neutral toned
rugs, and an abundance of materials for children to explore and build with. Each hub has thirty-
two children and four adults, but the spaces do not feel crowded. Children are dispersed
throughout the space at different “centers” of activity. At times, they meet in small groups with a
teacher, and at others, they are all together in a large meeting area with the two teachers and two
IAs. Overall, the space in the ECC at PASA appears to have been carefully crafted by designers
and teachers alike. The space provides an invitation to enter, stay, and learn. In the day-to-day
life of the hubs, there were two themes that emerged from the data, namely, (a) materials and (b)
invitations or provocations of learning.
Materials. Reggio Emilia municipal schools offer a rich variety of materials for students
to use. The materials provide children multiple tactile experiences (rough, smooth, etc.) and
account for manipulability so that the material represents complex possibilities (Ceppi &
Michele, 2003). Reggio schools rely on the expertise of the atelieristas to introduce materials
and provide perspectives on how the children use these materials (Gandini, 2012d).
While the ECC at PASA does not have an atelier studio or atelierista, there is an
abundance of materials, and teachers present multiple encounters with these materials for
children. There are building materials like blocks, Duplo blocks, Lego, and magnetic building
tiles. In addition, there are recycled materials and construction areas with a variety of cardboard.
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In this area children have an array of additional materials to use for these constructions,
including feathers, pipe cleaners, fabric balls, colorful papers, spools, tape, newspaper, glitter,
glue, tape, and more. There are sensory areas for children on the playgrounds that include water
tables, and sand pits or sand tables. There are art materials, including clay, play dough, water
color or tempera paints, in addition to drawing or book-making materials with pens, colored
pencils, and papers. There are also spaces for children to engage in dramatic play or puppetry,
and at times, to cook with teachers or volunteer parents. Some hubs also included a science
provocation for students, with a science experiment led by a teacher or an observation table with
a captured frog or snails from the playground.
In Reggio Emilia, early in his career, Malaguzzi studied how children’s ability to
replicate a line drawing changed over time (Cagliari et al., 2016). He noted that as children get
older, their ability to interpret more complex language clauses increases, and as a result they are
able to express more through their pictures (Cagliari et al., 2016). In order for children to grow in
their ability to express themselves with materials, they need exposure over time. There is an
abundance of materials at the ECC at PASA that allows for teachers to encourage this
development over time.
Invitations and provocations. In their discussion of “negotiated learning,” Foreman and
Fyfe (2012) describe “learning encounters” that can expand to investigations of different
concepts in the classroom community (p. 261). In the context of the ECC at PASA teachers
referred to the introduction of learning encounters as “invitations for learning” or
“provocations.” Each hub had different provocations, unique to the concepts that they were
studying. One hub was studying color, and had set up a painting exploration to invite learners to
blend color, as well as a science experiment to see how food coloring blends in soap and milk,
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creating spirals of changing colors. Another hub that was exploring maps invited children to
explore through story and mapping books at a table. Two children in this hub were engaged in
the process of creating a globe, attempting to figure out the difference between a flat world map
and the three-dimensional form of that same map. Other hubs invited children to work at tables
with letters or number. These provocations provide opportunities for the space to act as the third
teacher, inviting children to learn whether or not a teacher is present. In addition, Foreman and
Fyfe (2012) point out that these provocations offer opportunities for teachers to document new
learning for children and then reexamine the documentation to decide on new directions for the
conceptual study.
The ECC at PASA has opened up opportunities for children through carefully crafted
Reggio inspired spaces and multiple opportunities for children to develop their “languages,” as
Malaguzzi once envisioned them. Their thoughtfully designed spaces give consideration to light,
sound, texture, and color. They also offer a wide variety of materials and provocations for
learning for children. In the following section, the PASA value of holistic care is examined
through two Reggio inspired frameworks: relationships and the image of the child.
Holistic Care
Relationships: underlying assumptions. In the initial review of the literature for this
study, “relationships,” as Reggio inspired framework, did not stand out in the research. However,
as data was collected and analyzed for this study, it became evident that everything in early
childhood education pivots around relationships. This includes relationships between the school
and parents, between teacher and child, and between the child and other children. Malaguzzi
explains that for the municipal schools in Reggio, “Relationship is the primary connecting
dimension of our system, however, understood not as a warm protective envelope but rather as a
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dynamic conjunction of forces and elements interacting toward a common purpose” (Gandini,
2012b, p. 45). This distinction between protection and agency surfaced in the focus group
interviews for this study.
Jen and Judy explained that teachers modeled holistic care before the ECC adopted a
Reggio-inspired approach to their work. Even though the curricula before Reggio-inspiration felt
very “traditional,” Judy pointed out that the teachers showed holistic care by “really just putting
[their] hearts into it…you could ask any student and they would feel like they were the teacher’s
favorite.” Jen insisted that the school modeled holistic care long before it was named as a core
value, which is “why before, there were no advertisements…people came [to the school],
because of that…families came because we’re unique, so I don’t think Reggio Emilia brought
[the holistic care].” Holistic care in these descriptions is about the creation of the “warm
envelope” that Malaguzzi refers to.
Shirley and Debby suggested that providing children a sense of independence is as
important as taking care of them. Shirley explained that teachers model holistic care when they
allow children “to have agency…supporting them, guiding them with how to care for themselves
so that they can be independent learners.” Debby named a shift in the teacher thinking around
holistic care after adopting Reggio values. Debby explained that with Reggio inspiration,
teachers care to the “point of being that mama bird pushing the baby out of the nest, and
knowing that they will fly…because it didn’t used to be that way, it used to be like, here’s how I
tip you into the nest.” Malaguzzi refers to this form of agency when he describes relationships
between adults and children. Malaguzzi explains that a child’s environment “must be set up to
interface the cognitive realm with the realm of relationship and affectivity...there also should be
connection between…individual and interpersonal autonomies” (Gandini, 2012b, p. 45). There is
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a balance between allowing children to act as independent learners and guiding them to connect
with you and their surroundings.
Learners together (co-construction of knowledge). Malaguzzi (2016) explained to
parents and teachers that when children are given only direct instruction, they do not develop
“the courage that is vitally necessary for [them] to soar in many directions and try out many
models and behaviors” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 266). Reggio educators believe that teachers
must allow children the space to make meaning through experiences. Judy and Dia discussed co-
construction of knowledge as a value at the ECC at PASA. Judy explained that before Reggio
inspiration, teachers and children explored “letter of the week” and were “dressing up like
puppies and eating ‘puppy chow’” for the letter P, and while it felt fun, she asked, “Why were
we doing that?” Judy explained that “now I think that we’re actually listening to [children]
more…the [holistic] care now is, “Why do we do what we do, and how do we make it more
purposeful?” When teachers are listening to students, co-construction of knowledge begins to
form. There is an exchange of experience and information. Similarly, Dia explained that Carlina
Rinaldi captured her interest while she attended professional development in Italy because:
[Rindaldi] talks about listening, and noticing children, and pausing and taking your time,
and understanding the process rather than the product. And that feeds into your life as an
educator. You naturally take things from what you do, what you learn with the children,
and it impacts you as a human being and the way that you connect with people in the
wider world.
Dia posed that listening carefully to children impacts the teacher as much as it does the child.
Children and teachers are impacted by the co-construction of knowledge.
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Multi-faceted (teachers, children, parents, IAs and administration). There is a web of
relationships that expands out from each child in the ECC. Data reveal that the web includes
children, parents, teachers, instructional assistants, and administrators, who are all working
together in support of the child. The Southeast Asian context of PASA, however, provides a very
different environment for these relationships than that of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Two themes
emerged from the data representing participants’ underlying assumptions of relationships in the
ECC. The first was the relationships between teachers and instructional assistants, and the
second was the idea of family inclusion in classroom events.
Instructional Assistants and Teachers. Tiana, Chivon, Marie, Talia, and Jen all said that
the relationship between teacher and IA was critical to their day-to-day interactions in the ECC.
Talia described that her first teacher and IA relationship felt more like a co-teaching relationship.
Talia explained, “I learned a lot from [my first teacher], because she saw me as a co-teacher, she
taught me a lot along the way, because I was a teacher before—not in this grade, and obviously
not [a Reggio inspired center].” Talia said that if her first teacher was out sick she preferred Talia
be in charge, instead of the substitute teacher, because Talia understood the language of the
classroom, and “the way [to] speak to the kids.” Chivon expressed feeling similar capabilities as
a teacher, but she hesitates how to use those skills. Chivon explained:
Most [IAs], we can teach, but sometimes [we think], ‘Can I do it?’ because we don’t
want to overpower the teacher… Because some teachers don’t like it, so we don’t want to
overpower them. So we know where we stand. Because sometimes you’ll finish some
stuff, and the teacher comes and says, “Why? Why? You are not supposed to teach the
kids.” It depends on individual teacher how their mindset is towards their IA.
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These interactions can cause IAs to question not only their relationship with their teacher, but
also their assumptions about their role with children. This relationship is discussed further in
response to research question three below.
Family inclusion (in theory). Teacher and family relationships also stood out as a theme
from participants’ underlying assumptions of Reggio inspired work in the ECC. Educators in
Reggio municipal schools advocate strongly, as Malaguzzi did, that families should participate in
the schools (Cagliari et al., 2016; Gandini, 2012c; Rinaldi, 2006). Malaguzzi understood that
family participation “requires many things, but most of all, it demands of teachers a multitude of
adjustments. Teachers must possess…skills to talk, listen, and learn from parents” (Gandini,
2012b, p. 46). This intentionality demands energy from teachers, but in the eyes of Reggio
educators, it is essential for the school community (Gandini, 2012c; Rinaldi, 2006).
Debby, Judy, Gloria, Sarah and Shirley all discussed a shift in working with parents from
before the Reggio inspired approach, to after. Debby explained that before, there was a feeling of
controlled and scheduled interactions. Debby described that planning parent interactions was a
part of “a well-oiled machine like the rest of this school, and it was fine; the children were still
pretty happy” and parents became part of regularly scheduled activities. Sarah and Shirley
explained that after the transition to a Reggio inspired environment, parent involvement was
more intentional. Parents come in, according to Shirley, as experts or to share in celebrations. As
Sarah described, parents also come in to share books and their home culture.
Linda, Marie, Talia, and Jen preferred the way parents were involved before the Reggio
inspiration, when it was a regularly scheduled event. They saw the current practice as a decrease
in parent participation. Talia explained, “We don’t see parents so much,” and Marie explained
that there are, “no volunteers.” Jen and Talia expressed a desire for more parent involvement in
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order to feel more like a community. Linda explained that there were times when the increase in
parent involvement was problematic, if the child experienced separation anxiety, but she also
preferred the time when “parents used to come in and help.” Data showed that teachers held an
assumption that parent involvement is more intentional, but the IAs believed that there was a
significant decrease in parent involvement after adopting Reggio inspiration.
Relationships: day-to-day. In describing the Reggio municipal schools, Malaguzzi
explained that the goal for the schools “is to build an amiable school, where children, teachers,
and families all feel at home…[such a school] must embody ways of getting along together, of
intensifying relationships among the three central protagonists” (Gandini, 2012, p. 43). In the
beginning of this study, this theme in the literature was labeled “family and community
inclusion.” This shifted during the study into a larger web of relationships. Data showed that
teachers’ work with children pivots around each child’s relationships to their environment, to
parents, to teachers, to IAs, and to the other children. This section will examine two themes that
emerged around day-to-day realities of Reggio inspired work in the ECC. The first is play and
conflict resolution for young children, and the second returns to the theme of family inclusion in
the ECC community.
Play and conflict resolution. In a review of social-emotional learning impacts on
schools, Cohen (2006) explained that “systemic intervention to create a safe, caring, and
responsive school climate is the unifying goal [for healthy schools]…as it provides the platform
upon which we teach and learn.” Observational data for this study showed that many teacher-to-
child and child-to-child relationships revolve around play and conflict resolution. In the four
observations for this study, teachers were observed redirecting or scaffolding children’s behavior
56 times. Some instances were small interactions, like singing songs at the cooking table to learn
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how to share the pouring of ingredients amongst a group of six children, or raising a hand to
speak during large group instructions. Other times, when a child hit or threw an object at another
child, teachers needed to intervene, calm, and help the child repair the damaged relationship.
Research suggests that early social emotional skill development can impact children later in life
(Cohen, 2006; Flook, Goldberg, Pinger, & Davidson, 2015; Jones, Greenberg, & Crowley,
2015). Navigating relationships are critical in early childhood education, and are integral to what
teachers and children do each day.
Family inclusion (in practice). In his article, Cohen (2006) explained that the student’s
family is his home base, where he learns about self and others, about relationships, needs, values,
methods of solving problems, and much more…Therefore, vital school-home partnerships are an
essential facet of any effective school reform effort.
Shifting to Reggio inspired values in the ECC at PASA pushed teachers to view learning
in new ways. Families were also invited to alter their perspectives of a traditional learning
environment. Shirley, Debby, and Judy all described working with parents to better understand
the Reggio inspired environment in the ECC. Shirley and Debby explained that the ECC held an
event for parents in order to show two activities. One activity would model how learning “used
to be” in the ECC, and the other would demonstrate Reggio inspired learning. Parents were
asked to put together a pre-cut spider with a body, pipe cleaners, and eyes. Shirley explained that
if parents “did something wrong like put the eyes somewhere different, we would say, ‘No,
where do the eyes go? We told you the eyes go right here.’ We played it up a bit.” After the pre-
cut activity, teachers revealed a newly-inspired activity. Shirley described showing parents a
second table with “tons of different resources, like clay, pipe cleaners, everything, all in a similar
tones of a real spider; and we showed a video, and we said, ‘Oh, I wonder how you could
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represent this spider now?’ And then [parents] just produced the most incredible things!” Debby
explained that through the event, teachers could more easily see parents’ creativity and abilities
with the materials. Both Debby and Shirley felt that, with this experience, parents understood the
purpose of learning provocations and open-exploration of materials, as opposed to pre-cut
activities.
Judy described that in the past when parents came in, the activity was pre-planned and
designated, and they would “just be helping out.” Judy felt that in the current environment,
parents were invited intentionally, for example “if they have a special skill” with food or music,
teachers “would welcome those parents to come in to share that with the class.” Examples of this
intentional involvement of parents were observed in the ECC on two occasions. In one instance,
families made dumplings with a class during the Chinese New Year celebration. There appeared
to be multiple generations coming together to help in the activity, including a mother and a
grandmother. In another instance in Gloria’s classroom, a child had mentioned that women
cannot be airline pilots. Gloria immediately reached out to the wider PASA school community
through an online communication board, and within three days had a parent who is a female pilot
speak to the class about being a female pilot. While the data reveal that parent involvement is
less frequent in the ECC than it was prior to Reggio inspiration, the data also suggest parent
involvement is more intentional, and perhaps, more meaningful to students.
This section explored relationships as a framework of Reggio inspiration in the ECC at
PASA. Participants’ underlying assumptions reveled themes around teacher and IA relationships
as well as assumptions about family inclusion. Data revealed that, in day-to-day life in the ECC:
(a) relationships are pivotal to the social-emotional development of children; (b) teachers
constantly help to scaffold and structure these relationships; and (c) that Reggio inspiration has
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brought more intention to ways in which families are involved in the ECC at PASA. The next
section will explore underlying assumptions and day-to-day realities of the “image of the child.”
Image of the child: underlying assumptions. Reggio educators focus on developing the
innate capabilities of the child. Malaguzzi fought for adults to see children as capable beings. In
his words, “Each step forward, each curiosity satisfied, each test overcome…each discovery, is a
source of great wellbeing, great satisfaction and great confidence for children…[children] know
how to know, children can know” (Cagliari et al., 2016, p. 239). Research shows that when
teachers believe in the capabilities of their students, children are able to achieve higher standards
of learning (Mckown & Weinstein, 2008; C. Rubie-Davies et al., 2006; C. M. Rubie-Davies,
2006). Reggio educators believe that children are not containers to be filled with knowledge,
rather, they are active learners and capable researchers (Cagliari et al., 2016; Gandini, 2012b;
Rinaldi, 2006). Teachers and IAs at PASA discussed this shift in thinking during focus groups.
They discussed the rights of the child and the ability of these capable young learners to change
the world.
Rights of the child. Judy, Debby, Dia, Sarah, Shirley, and Jen described how Reggio
inspiration influenced their view of children. Judy referenced the process of documentation of
children and their learning and how it caused her to be more reflective as a teacher, and gave her
a “greater understanding of the child.” Judy explained that at the end of the school year, when
she reviews the data and stories she has collected she “can really see, ‘Oh! I can read about this
child’s personality.’” Judy explained that the photos combined with the documented words and
interpretations of the work “give you a rich picture of who the kid is.” Dia agreed, and in her
introduction to parents on Back to School Night she explained to parents, “one of the things
we’ve admired [over the last couple of weeks], is the children showing their personalities.” Dia
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described that teachers attempt to set up a space where this is possible, where children can leave
their “mark” and be reflected back by the space. Jen expressed a similar respect to the Reggio
approach of viewing children “because you really look at kids individually.” Jen explained that
in the old approach, children were directed where to go and what to do there. Jen felt that under
Reggio influence in the ECC, children were allowed to explore their interests as much as they
wanted to, while teachers and IAs help them learn through questioning. Children are valued for
their interests. Similarly, Marie and Talia discussed moving at the pace of the child, and not that
of the teacher within classroom projects, where before, children were told when and how to
finish projects.
Sarah, Shirley, and Debby wanted to share their beliefs about the rights of the child to the
larger PASA community. Sarah described that she wanted to share her belief with parents and
other teachers “that children have the right to be these independent capable humans that they
are.” Sarah explained that often she heard her students described by adults as “cute,” and she
wanted to respond, “’but they are also very intelligent!’… [teachers] need to be that role model”
for society to show them how strong and capable children are. Shirley described that, in Reggio
Emilia, educators discussed the right of the child to have strong relationships outside of the
home. Shirley felt that parent education was important, in order to help them understand that
children are in the ECC “to build relationships with materials, and other people, and different
adults, and that’s a really important part of their life, to have their own independent self.”
Changing the world. Debby, Sarah, and Shirley all expressed that children and early
childhood education can change the world. Debby explained that through Reggio inspiration she
found a new “unwavering belief that children are competent, capable of constructing their own
knowledge, and that we as teachers can co-construct that with them.” Debby described a shift in
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her perspective of the role of early childhood education, and that it really is a larger, world-wide
movement to protect the rights of the child that she wanted to take part in. Shirley found joy in
the thought of “what [the children at PASA are] achieving in the world!” Shirley specifically
referenced efforts in one classroom to stop the use of palm oil, which is particularly harmful to
the climate in Southeast Asia due to clearcutting of rainforests. Dahlberg (2012) states that early
childhood educators should “provide opportunities for children and adults to come together and
engage in projects of social, cultural, political and economic significance” in order to form an
active, democratic community (p. 230). The data suggest that educators in the ECC hold strong
beliefs in the capabilities of children and their potential for changing the world.
Image of the child: day-to-day. It can be challenging for teachers when they are asked
to shift their philosophy from a “top-down” educational model, and instead give more control to
the learners through concepts and context. When this philosophical shift was in process in
Reggio municipal schools, Malaguzzi acknowledged that he asked “a great effort [from]
teachers…to voluntarily give up things they believed in good faith, so they can participate in
building schools together with children, young people, parents and citizens” (Cagliari et al.,
2016, p. 180). This section will explore the day-to-day interactions of participants exploring the
image of an independent child as an agent of democratic change.
Agency vs. holistic care. Data revealed that educators in the ECC listen carefully to
children and respond to their needs with visible compassion. During observations, participants
were closely engaged with children. Many were observed in conversation about learning within a
context, from cardboard construction projects, to science experiments, to stories about the color
red, to dramatic play in a restaurant setting, to the discovery of a frog on the patio. In her
individual interview, Tiana described a transformation in her belief about giving children agency
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over their own projects and learning. Tiana explained “previously, what I did was prepare all the
things for them, even the scissors and the glue was right in front of them…so the kids just sat,
did their work, and that was it.” Tiana juxtaposed that experience to her current environment
where if children want to paint, they are encouraged to take out the materials they will need, or if
they need to cut, they are directed to where the scissors are kept for shared usage. This
ownership over space and materials was confirmed in observations of children. Children easily
navigated classroom spaces and materials in every learning hub, to find small things like pipe
cleaners, to more personal items, like their own learning journey notebook.
Shirley described the importance of bringing Reggio-inspired philosophies to life in the
day-to-day interactions with children. Shirley explained:
I mean you can make the beautiful Reggio environment…but if you haven’t actually
taken the concept of the importance of early childhood and the importance of the projects
that the children engage in for them and for the wider world, [the values are] kind of lost.
In one learning hub, children discovered through research that plastics had severe impacts for sea
turtles in the ocean and became very passionate about the issue. Teachers supported the children
in further investigation and discussion and also organized a field trip for the class to pick up
plastics and trash on a local beach. In addition, the children presented their research to the high
school cafeteria manager, and convinced him to discontinue the use of plastic forks, spoons, and
knives. This service learning allowed for children to be agents for change in their community.
There is evidence in the data that educators in the ECC value children as strong, capable beings.
Summary of the findings for Research Questions #1 and #2
The purpose of the first research question for this study was to highlight frameworks of
Reggio inspired work in the ECC as perceived by teachers and IAs. In this section, data for RQ1
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were aligned with data from RQ2, which explored the day-to-day implementation of these
Reggio frameworks. By examining perceived frameworks and day-to-day implementation, it
became clear that there were six areas where expectations and practice aligned, including: (a)
documentation of children’s work; (b) the ECC as a learning organization; (c) using space as the
third teacher; (d) the hundred languages of children; (e) relationships; and (f) valuing the image
of the child as a capable learner. Concept-based learning surfaced as a framework that the ECC
was developing at the time of this study, and also as an area for possible improvements. The next
section will focus on data suggesting how practices can be improved upon in the ECC in order to
reach the PASA 2020 strategic goals of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care.
Research Question 3: How could practices be improved upon in the ECC at PASA in order
to reach the 2020 strategic focuses of excellence, opportunities and holistic care?
The ECC at PASA is well on its way to meeting its strategic goals for 2020 in excellence,
opportunities, and holistic care, as evidenced by the data for the first two research questions in
this study. There are three themes that surfaced through data analysis demonstrating which
practices can be improved upon in light of the 2020 goals to provides all students with academic
excellence, opportunities for personalized learning, and social-emotional wellbeing. These three
themes include (a) excellence and concept-based learning; (b) opportunity and the role of the
instructional assistant and (c) holistic care with inclusion of students with special needs.
Concepts. Concept-based learning emerged as a central theme for this study, and shifted
the theoretical framework, adding a third category under the umbrella of “excellence.” The data
for RQ1 and RQ2 reveal the time and consideration the ECC has invested in concept-based work
and inquiry learning. Concept-based curriculum and instruction, as defined by Erickson et al.
(2017), frames facts and content with conceptual lenses to allow for transfer of learning and
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skills across more contexts than traditional curricula might allow for. Concepts are used in
Reggio Emilia municipal schools as a part of the progettazione work they do with children, or
what Forman and Fyfe (2012) call “negotiated learning.” Concept learning was discussed in
response to RQ1 and RQ2, and will be addressed in RQ3 as a possible area for improvement in
the ECC at PASA.
Next steps for concept work. At the time of this study, the data revealed that teachers and
students were exploring over 25 concepts within the first five months of school. Shirley and
Debby explained in interview that the ECC educators have identified four “conceptual lenses”
which act as macroconcepts, as defined above by Erikson et al. (2017). In the ECC these four
conceptual lenses include symbolic language (including letters and numbers), environment,
community, and identity, Shirley explained. Within each learning hub, teachers create studies
with children, tying concepts to these four macro-concepts. Some of the additional concepts that
surfaced in the study included: (a) belonging; (b) celebration; (c) color; (d) object permanence;
(e) distance; (f) habitat; (g) home; (h) kindness; (i) lifecycles; (j) “looking beyond”; (k)
migration; (l) movement; (m) protection; and (n) sound.
Abigail described a discovery she made on her professional development trip to Reggio
Emilia, Italy. Abigail explained that even though there are multiple early childhood and infant-
toddler centers, “the concept was all the same; every single one of these schools were looking at
how digital learning [and] nature combined and interacted.” Abigail explained that the
conceptual study looked differently for each municipal school, but the underlying concept
remained the same. Abigail also described how this impacted her understanding of what
happened in the ECC at PASA:
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I think, before we went to Reggio, we were kind of under the assumption that each hub
was supposed to come up with their own concepts…the pedagogistas [in Reggio] were
explaining that, no, there were actually three main concepts that all of the infant toddler
centers were working on…And there were a couple of concepts that were spanning over a
three-year period to develop them…So we’re still trying to figure out how that actually
goes with us.
This is an area that the ECC at PASA continues to develop in their transition into Reggio
inspired work, which does not come with a written program or curricula. Suggestions for this
work will be explored further in chapter five of this paper.
Unique educator roles: Inequity for instructional assistants. At the time of this study,
the data suggested that there is a feeling of inequity for the instructional assistants working in the
ECC at PASA. It is important for the purposes of this discussion that the setting of this study and
the intentions of this section are understood. The IAs who participated in this study (there were
seven women) are all people of color (POC), all of Singaporean nationality, and five of whom
are Malay Singaporeans and practicing Muslims. Of the eight teachers who participated in the
study, seven are white, and all are expatriates coming from the United States, Canada, United
Kingdom, or Australia. The purpose of this section is to present the perspective of the IAs.
There was a very different outcome from the focus group with teachers and that of the
IAs. Teachers spoke about how the transition to Reggio inspired work impacted and inspired
their professional lives. IAs spoke to the inequities they experience within the ECC in addition to
their current understanding of the transition to the Reggio inspired work. As Atwood and López
(2014) explain, “for the vast majority of people of color, the world is not neutral or objective, but
is rife with…power inequities, difference, and otherness” (p. 1,135). Atwood and López (2014)
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expand further on this idea to explain that when in systems with dominant (white) values,
“particular interests, values, and ideologies produce specific types of social arrangements,
and…such arrangements are often used by the dominant class to justify” the way that things are
(p. 1136). Atwood and López (2014) herald the importance of hearing stories from the people of
color to provide what they describe as a “counterstory” to the dominant narrative.
This is a highly-charged subject and was at times difficult for IAs to discuss. The
researcher understands, as well, that presenting this information may be just as difficult for
teachers and administrators at PASA to read. Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, and Torino (2008) explain
that many white people:
have difficulty acknowledging race-related issues because they elicit guilt about their
privileged status, threaten their self-image as fair, moral, and decent human beings…To
accept the racial reality of POC inevitably means confronting one’s own unintentional
complicity in the perpetuation of racism. (p. 277)
The purpose of recording the IAs’ counterstories is not to elicit feelings of guilt from any
teachers or administrators. The purpose is to stay true to the data that emerged in this study and
to highlight six areas for improvement, from the perspectives of the IAs, to structures at PASA.
Advancement opportunities and professional development. Rinaldi (2006) explains that,
as Reggio schools evolved, it was important for educators to understand that “if a school is a
place of education…all the people there are educational, they are ‘educating’…[therefore] there
were no first class and second class staff” (p. 150). Rinaldi (2006) believes that each staff
member plays a critical part in the school, and it is important to give value and meaning to each
person’s work. In the ECC, Jen’s perspective on this was “if you are going to go to this direction
of Reggio Emilia [inspiration], you have to recognize that you have to invest in your assistant.”
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One avenue for investment, expressed by Tiana, Linda, Chivon, Marie, Talia and Jen, would be
more targeted professional development.
Current professional development. Jen, Chivon, Tiana, and Talia all discussed current
professional development opportunities they participated in within the past year. Chivon and
Tiana valued time spent with the school’s behavioral specialist during an afternoon session that
explained safe ways to work with children putting themselves or others in danger.
Jen, Chivon, Talia, and Tiana all felt that the time spent with the outside Reggio
consultant was valuable to their practice and understanding of Reggio inspired work. All four felt
the time with the consultant was limited. Tiana explained, “I think once or twice we had that
short time with her, then that’s it.” Chivon expressed, “That one [with the consultant] is good, a
day with her, [it helped us to] know what’s going on, but I think that the teachers have more time
with her than us.” In explaining her shifting role in the classroom, Jen explained, “But you never
train us, two times with [the consultant] in three hours was not enough; and that is what we’ve
been begging [for], just show us the materials at least.”
Chivon and Tiana both mentioned technology professional development that is provided
for all instructional assistants at PASA, many of whom work in the elementary division. Chivon
explained that during the two to three in-service days, where all staff come in for training and
meetings, IAs will “meet up with somebody to talk about iPads…but sometimes it is not relevant
to what we are doing, so sometimes we feel like it is a waste of time.” Tiana also described PD
feeling “totally useless” when IAs “are sent to do the IT [instruction] for all the apps that we
have, which we don’t even use at all [in the ECC].” In discussing technology, Jen described the
inequity in technology opportunities for teachers and IAs. Jen explained that when a teacher is
hired, she is given an iPad and a laptop computer for work, while IAs are given the iPad. After
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three years, teachers are given the option to buy their laptops, otherwise they are redistributed for
student use. Jen explained it would be wonderful if the school could help IAs have access to
purchasing their own laptops, possibly arranging for payments by installment to allow more IAs
access to purchasing these tools for their own use.
Possibilities for professional development. Chivon, Linda, Marie, Talia, Tiana, and Jen
all expressed desire to learn more about the Reggio inspired philosophy and work in the ECC.
Talia and Jen both described how they had learned from the teacher they worked with in the
classroom, or other teachers in the ECC. Talia described working with a teacher who taught her
“how to talk to the kids, how she worked in the class, to the point where [Talia] kind of
understood how she grouped the kids together and how she’d generate interest with the whole
group” around a topic of study. In her interview, Jen pulled out a book that another teacher had
loaned her that gave her more information on how to work with certain materials with children.
Jen explained, “This is what I want, educational materials.”
Tiana, Chivon, and Jen gave specific areas and ways they would like to learn to support
the children in the ECC. Jen described a lending library where IAs could borrow or have books
that supported the Reggio work, with enough books for the IAs, or, if the school didn’t “want to
buy each of us one, buy two and we’ll take turns [reading them].” This would work differently
than teachers loaning books to IAs, because it would be a shared, equal-access space for books.
Jen also described a desire to learn material-specific knowledge, for ways to structure and
support children’s understanding and ability with paints, blocks, construction materials, and
other frequently used materials in the ECC. Jen saw the possibility to harness the Professional
Learning Community (PLC) structure the school already has in place as a means to implement
some of this professional development. Jen envisioned including IAs in “…meaningful PLC
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[meetings] on learning different [material] skills every time.” IAs are currently not a part of the
PLC meetings with teachers. Tiana envisioned a similar structure of inclusion for IAs in
professional development settings, and thought that even just four, 45 minute sessions
throughout the year would help her to understand more of the Reggio inspired philosophy. Tiana
would even be willing to complete the sessions outside of office hours, because “if it’s for work
purposes in which we think [we will benefit], why not?” Chivon mentioned a desire for more
information on helping children with special needs, because “if we can’t handle [them], we can’t
teach [them].” She felt the session with the behavioral specialist was particularly helpful for her
day-to-day work with children.
Jen also mentioned the power of potentially having opportunities to advance her career
within the institution. More than once, she has seen white instructional assistants able to pay for
a teaching degree and then be hired as teachers in the school. Jen explained that it would be
wonderful if PASA could become a place where Singaporean IAs could “be inspired to say, ‘Oh,
I want a change of profession, I think I’d like to be a teacher in a school where I believe I like the
approach …but [PASA] would not allow you to grow. Why? That’s what I don’t understand.”
Jen also felt just by investing more professional development into IAs, without the advancement
opportunities, she “could just see the possibilities [for the school]. Instead of having just two
teachers, you really are having four teachers; you make use of the adults in the classroom,
wouldn’t that be wonderful for the children?” Advancing the skill level of the IAs would benefit
the ECC and the children.
Culture and food. Jen and Chivon both mentioned past feelings of inequity based around
IAs and food in the ECC and the wider PASA community. Jen explained that, “culturally…if
you come to an Asian, you’ll say, ‘Hey have you eaten?’ because for us, food is a showing of
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love…so for us, food is a very sensitive issue.” Jen described the feeling of disappointment when
entering in the afternoon for professional development with a Reggio consultant. Jen explained
that the teachers “were up there first, with a buffet spread, coffee and little nibblets, when we
joined them by noon, the food is all gone. Did they fill it up? No.” The feeling Jen left with was,
“So what is it that can’t be shared for [IAs] in the morning [learning session]…Is it different?”
Jen also explained feeling sad in this moment, as if she were being told she were not part of the
family, and worthy only of “crumbs” and “leftovers.”
One IA interviewed explained that, culturally as a Muslim she eats Halal food. This is
true for many of the IAs in the school. As Chivon described, in the past, events did not have
Halal options for IAs, but there was a shift and now the “gatherings always have Halal
food…[and] now I think it’s way better…our teachers know that if they want to order food [with
IAs] they order Halal food…[before] we didn’t have that kind of relationship.” Chivon described
an experience from four years prior where IAs went to partake in a shared counselor breakfast,
and were turned away by someone who said, “Oh, that’s only for the teachers, not for the IAs.”
Chivon explained, “that’s why nowadays if there is any food, if they didn’t say IAs [are
welcome], we don’t want to go, because we don’t want to bring shame on ourselves.” Brewer
(1979) explains that “the enhancement of in-group bias is more related to increased favoritism
toward in-group members than to increased hostility toward out-group members.” The
experiences described by the Jen and Chivon relay feelings of being out-group members, where
teachers are favored in terms of food and access to food in the school.
Space. In Reggio municipal schools, there are not first and second class spaces within the
school (the kitchens, for example, are visible and a space that children know and use alongside
the cooks), and there are not first or second class positions for staff (Rinaldi, 2006, p. 150).
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Before the space at PASA was remodeled, IAs had a break room and work room that was
spacious enough for most IAs to sit together and eat together. After the remodel, and at the time
of this study, there was a large shared teacher meeting space where each teacher had a desk. The
IA project space is a small room with shelves, laminators, paper cutters, a small table and two
desktop computers. It is large enough for about two to three people to be in the space at any one
time. Chivon explained that before, when there was a larger break room, IAs ate their lunch
together, and after the remodel, they ate lunch in one of the teacher’s rooms. Chivon explained,
“all the IAs eat together, because that’s where we just talk, but now we can’t eat in the
classroom. I don’t know why. But some teachers still eat in the classroom, so why can they eat
but we can’t eat [there]?” With the current setup, six to seven IAs eat in a multi-purpose room on
the floor around a coffee table together, unless the room is in use, while the other IAs eat in the
high school cafeteria adjacent to the ECC. Chivon expressed that through these changes, she felt
as though the IAs “welfare is not being looked [after].”
Tiana and Chivon both described having previously difficult relationships with the
teachers they worked with. Both expressed appreciation of the current teachers in their
classrooms. Tiana explained that the discomfort from the relationship changed her feeling of the
space. Tiana described having a “hard feeling…whenever I want to step inside the class…I
[would] say, ‘Oh I have to come to work, I don’t want to come to work.” While neither Tiana or
Chivon felt these tense relationships affected their work with children in the ECC, both felt it
affected their personal relationships at home with their own partners and children. As IAs
indicated in the data, space, and who feels “ownership” over the space, can impact people’s in-
group and out-group feelings within a setting.
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News and announcements. Brewer (1979, 2007) explains that access to information can
be a way of showing favoritism towards an in-group. Tiana, Jen, Linda, Marie and Chivon
expressed that access to information and the speed at which it was received caused them to feel
separate. As Chivon explained, when something is going on, IAs “always get to know
last…because the teacher has a meeting right? So they get to know then, but for us, we only get
to know later, like [several] days after.” Jen explained, “I don’t understand why, if it’s an
announcement or a training that would benefit the children, why can’t it be shared at the same
time? Why is it first to the teacher and then trickled down…to us?”
Marie, Chivon, and Jen explained that when the teachers started to really engage in the
shift towards Reggio inspired environments, the teachers were “abuzz” with the information, but
they were hesitant to pass any information to the IAs. Jen explained overhearing teachers say,
“’it’s the IAs, they might hear it, they may talk’…so here we are very clueless as to what
Reggio” was, to the point where IAs nicknamed it “Reggio Ga Ga” in order to discuss it. Jen
explained that:
it went on for a year without us, without them telling us, and then the first year they
implemented [Reggio inspiration, it was] without any warning…We did our usual
summertime [preparation]…Two weeks coming in, cleaning the classroom, pre-cutting
all the alphabets…and they came in August saying, ‘Oh sorry girls, we forgot to inform
you, we’re doing Reggio Ga Ga.’
The data suggested that including IAs in classroom planning works differently for
different hubs. One IA explained that, in the classroom, she and her teachers have better lines of
communication, and sit once each week to talk about the plans for the following week, including
what projects to set up. This IA did not feel, however, that this time resulted in her added
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knowledge of her job skills (as in it was not a time of professional development, but rather of
consistent communication about events). Another IA explained that these planning meetings did
not happen in her room, and planning was more on a day-to-day basis. This IA expressed a
desire for more information so that she could prepare for the whole week. She explained that if
anything could change in the ECC, she desired “good communication between teachers and
IAs.” Tiana explained that if communication channels opened in the ECC, IAs would be able to
better support children, because all adults in the room would be working together to support
children with their full capacity. Tiana explained, “if the teachers only talk among themselves,
then suddenly when they imply it is just between them, we [wonder], ‘What is it? What
happened?’” One very direct way to decrease “out-group” sentiment for IAs would be to open
clear channels of communication with them from teachers and administrators.
Teacher and parent “mindset.” Tiana, Marie, Chivon, Talia and Jen expressed that their
day-to-day treatment depended upon the person they were interacting with, and that person’s
“mindset” towards IAs. One word that came up ten different times in the data was that of
“respect.” Each time it arose for the first time, the IA was asked to define what that word meant
to her. That data, including ways in which IAs feel “respect,” is discussed in this section.
Respect. Chivon explained, while she felt comfortable with her own teacher and IA
relationship, that in order for circumstances to improve in the ECC, “teachers, they need to
respect their IA…as in they need to treat us as an adult.” Chivon described that, in order to feel
like an adult, “when we make a mistake, we won’t feel afraid, because it happened to me before,
[if I made] a mistake, I [felt] afraid, because I know [the teacher] will just blow up at me, she
will scold me…we are not a [maid] to them, we are their assistant.” Tiana also explained that
when she was previously in a hostile relationship with her teacher, “there was no respect…I
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didn’t ask for, ‘You need to talk to me, you need to give me your attention,’ I just ask for normal
human respect towards [one another].” Tiana expressed feeling that if she fell behind on a
project, she would be scolded, to the point that it was “overboard, until it affected me at home, [I
thought] ‘I just cannot take it.’” Chivon explained that with each generation of teachers coming
in, these feelings can change, but the feelings towards IAs could go either way. Chivon
expressed that, “if two teachers think of us [that way] it will [become] ten that think like that,
that think of us, the IA, as kind of a slave to them.” When feelings about respect surfaced in the
IA focus group, Linda expressed that the IAs were “being honest” with their feelings, and Talia
summed up the conversation with her feeling that there is “segregation” between IAs and
teachers at PASA. Chivon, Jen, and Talia described feeling treated differently by parents as well
in the community at PASA. Chivon explained that parents pass a “sentiment” to their child that
IAs are “’not your teacher, that’s your [maid]’…we are the ones that really do all the [bathroom
clean-up] for the kids, but why do [parents] have that vision that the teacher is up there and IAs
[below], why can’t that be balanced?” IAs indicated in the data that these relationships vary from
person to person. They are able to feel respected by some, but not all adults in the school.
Approaching administration. Tiana, Jen, and Chivon all expressed hesitance to approach
administration with the needs that are outlined in this portion of the paper. Chivon expressed an
inability to approach administration within the school to the point where she would rather take a
sick day instead of a personal day, which would have to be approved by administration. Chivon
explained, “we want to approach [administration], but we are like, ‘Are we supposed to
approach? And can we get a positive answer from somebody?’ Because we know we will get a
negative answer, for sure we know that, ‘Oh it’s not going to happen.’” When asked if Chivon
would like the ECC to change in any way, to be more than “just a job” to her, she explained, “I
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would want it to be more than that, as in, I would want it to be a…family relationship…this
school has become a business now.” Jen expressed the desire to be “genuinely known” and for
administration to “listen to [IAs] needs, and not all at once,” but one at a time. When asked
whether she thought IAs would feel comfortable sharing their needs if they did have that one-on-
one time with administration, Jen explained, if IAs genuinely thought that they were “not going
to get in trouble, then yes they would.” In order to build trust, IAs would have to see that they
could express their feelings and needs without fear of negative repercussions. In their article on
organizational silence, (Morrison & Milliken, 2000) explain that research shows the two primary
reasons staff will not bring information to their administration are because they “feared there
would be negative repercussions for speaking up, and they did not believe that speaking up
would make a difference” (p. 707). There may be a need to address organizational silence at
PASA in order to fully open lines of communication for the health of the organization.
This section discussed counterstories brought to light by IAs in the ECC at PASA. In
order to address feelings of inequity between teachers and IAs, administration and teachers could
consider making small changes in the areas described in this section, which include (a)
professional development for IAs; (b) being mindful of inclusive practices around food, as it is a
particularly powerful cultural language for IAs; (c) providing spaces for eating and materials
preparation that feel equitable and inclusive and (d) opening clear lines of communication
between administration, teachers, and IAs. If these four areas were addressed, it might also
impact feelings of respect and the ability to break through some of the organizational barriers
that IAs currently feel exist. This could open unforeseen opportunities for staff and children. The
next section presents data collected for RQ3 that addresses the topic of holistic care at PASA.
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Ethical care. Soncini (2012) explains that Reggio municipal schools set out to:
embrace, not ignore, the concept of differences among children…Loris Malaguzzi
strongly believed that having the children with special rights in the schools could
stimulate us, as teachers, to think in terms of a much broader pedagogical approach for all
children, to broaden our horizons for all the children. (p. 189)
Reggio schools prioritize inclusive practices. Reggio municipal school educators use the term
“special rights” to refer to children with special needs or disabilities, and these children are given
priority for acceptance in municipal schools (Edwards et al., 2012).
Shirley explained that some teachers from the ECC at PASA attended a conference in
Reggio Emilia specifically addressing “children with special rights and the way that they look at
inclusivity.” Shirley came away with the understanding that educators in Reggio Emilia felt, “It’s
the responsibility of the school to figure out a way to accommodate a child” with special rights,
for example, remodeling the school if the child is in a wheelchair and the school only has stairs.
Shirley explained one practice in Reggio, that was not a part of the experience at PASA at this
time, is to bring parents in “to share their story, to introduce the child” and describe “what their
journey had been like” as a family of a child with needs. Shirley explained that the family and
child “really become a part of the community…and all the parents see every child in the class as,
not necessarily as their child, but as a member [because] everyone deserves equal education.” In
the data for this study, participants highlighted and questioned policies at PASA that outline
when to include students with special rights.
Approach to admitting students with special rights. Shirley, Gloria, Judy, Sarah, Debby,
Talia and Jen all expressed that PASA would not admit children with a certain level of needs into
the school. Soncini (2012) explains that there are many supports put in place for children with
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special rights in the Reggio schools, including an additional support teacher for each child with
needs. Gloria explained that currently in the ECC, the responsibility for caring for the children in
the classroom with special needs falls primarily on the classroom teachers and IAs; there are not
currently many outside supports. Gloria explained that there have been kids that “come through
the ECC that have been observed by administrators in the space, and they’ve been denied”
entrance to the school. Debby explained that the PASA term used for this process is “optimal
admissions,” and PASA would only accept a child if they have the “resources to provide for
them.” Talia explained that her understanding from administration was that the school does not
have the equipment or set-up for some students with special needs, so PASA will only accept a
child who “can function in a regular classroom.” Sarah expanded on this, explaining that it came
down to a matter of safety for the child, “like if they are going to be unsafe in the environment,
or if they’re going to run away, that is very dangerous in an environment like this.” Sarah
explained that unless the school were willing to make structural changes, some children could
not be accepted to the classrooms as they are now. Shirley explained that her understanding was
that PASA “wouldn’t really accept children that they didn’t feel wouldn’t be able to progress
through the rest of the school.” Shirley, Sarah, and Gloria all felt that this ability would be very
difficult to assess within a short observation for very young children.
Gloria, Judy, Sarah, Debby, and Jen described children with special rights that are
included in the community at PASA. Gloria explained that there are children in the classroom
who at times need to be restrained to feel safe due to their sensory needs. Sarah explained she
had children in the classroom this year who have special rights. Sarah said these children would
have difficulty fitting into a “traditional classroom,” but in the classroom at PASA were “very
well accepted” and “loved and appreciated for who they are.” Rinaldi (2006) explains that
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educators may take inspiration from Reggio municipal schools, but that they cannot become the
schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, as they exist in a different context. It is up to administration at
PASA to determine whether inclusive practices, as modeled in Reggio schools, could become a
part of the school culture at PASA as well.
Summary of the findings for Research Question #3
As an institution, PASA is on the path to innovate education. In order to do so, they have
created a 2020 strategic plan with goals in the areas of excellence, opportunities, and holistic
care. In examining frameworks for Reggio inspired education in the ECC at PASA, six
frameworks proved to be well aligned for achieving the PASA goals by the year 2020 (as
described in response to RQ1 and RQ2). There are three themes that emerged from the data that
show areas for improvement towards reaching excellence, opportunities, and holistic care,
including: (a) concept-based learning; (b) equity for instructional assistants, as a part of the
“unique educator roles” framework; and (c) considerations for fully-inclusive environments, as a
part of the “ethical practices” framework. These themes will be revisited in chapter five as a part
of the analysis for this study.
Conclusion
The qualitative data from focus groups, observations, and interview responses for this
study revealed participants’ perceptions and practices around frameworks of Reggio inspired
work. Initially, through review of the literature from educators in Reggio Emilia municipal
schools, eight frameworks were identified that fit inside of the PASA values of excellence,
opportunities, and holistic care. These included: (a) documentation; (b) learning organizations;
(c) hundred languages of children; (d) space as the third teacher; (e) unique educator roles; (f)
ethical practice; (g) family and community inclusion; and (h) image of the child. Through the
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course of this study, these frameworks shifted. “Family and community inclusion” was absorbed
in part by “documentation,” and was also replaced by the category of “relationships.” In
addition, “concepts and inquiry” emerged as a new framework of Reggio inspired work in the
ECC. Alongside these shifting frameworks, there were four major findings for this study.
The first finding from this qualitative study showed six areas of alignment between
participant perceptions of the Reggio inspired frameworks in the ECC at PASA, and their day-to-
day practices of that work. These areas included: (a) documentation of children’s work; (b) the
ECC as a learning organization; (c) using space as the third teacher; (d) the hundred languages of
children; (e) relationships; and (f) valuing the image of the child as a capable learner.
Documentation is a powerful tool used to help teachers, IAs, and students reflect on their
learning and share it with the wider community. In order to become a learning organization, the
administration at PASA has provided many supports for teachers to better understand Reggio
inspired learning and to guide teachers as researchers. The IAs are not as much a part of this
work as they would like to be. Participants in this study also reflected on the shift towards spaces
that reflect their learners and act as the third teacher. Likewise, they have worked to create an
environment that reflects the “hundred languages” of children, or modalities and materials
through which children can learn. In addition, it is evident from the data that so much of early
childhood education revolves around relationships. It is also clear that teachers and IAs feel
differently about the ways in which parents are included in the ECC. Teachers feel that parents
are more purposefully included in classroom activities, while IAs noted the decrease in parent
participation. Both statements were observed to be true in practice; there is a decrease in parent
participation (as in there were no observed “weekly activities” for parents to partake in), but the
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observed participation was quite purposeful. Lastly, it was evident through data analysis that
children were valued as capable individuals in the ECC at PASA by all participants.
The second finding for this study is that there is a perceived understanding of concept-
based work that is not fully evidenced through observation or other interview data. This indicates
that it is an area of improvement for the ECC’s Reggio inspired work. Teacher participants
modeled a spectrum of understanding with concept work, as well as varying degrees of certainty
to how well they were implementing the work in their classroom. IAs supported concept work to
the degree that they were able in the classroom, but interviews showed that they were not
included on the professional development happening in regards to concept-based work. IA
understanding of concept work, as a result, was not evident.
The third finding is that IAs experience inequity in their educator role in the ECC at
PASA. Four themes emerged in the data as areas that IAs felt there could be continued
improvement, including: (a) professional development for IAs; (b) being mindful of inclusive
practices around food, as a powerful cultural language for IAs; (c) providing spaces for eating
and materials preparation that feel equitable and inclusive; and (d) opening clear lines of
communication between administration, teachers, and IAs (p.134).
The fourth finding is that while Reggio Emilia municipal schools prioritize inclusion,
wholly inclusive practices are not a part of the policies at PASA at this time. Teachers
participating in this study described that they would willingly partake in more inclusive settings,
should PASA wish to engage in the policies and procedures that would need to shift in order for
all students to have access to the learning in the school.
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In Chapter Five, these findings will be discussed in connection with supporting literature
on Reggio inspired practices, concept-based learning, and equity for staff and students. Chapter
Five will also reveal implications for practice and possibilities for future research.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION

The goal of this study was to explore how Reggio frameworks are being applied in the
Early Childhood Center (ECC) in order to meet the three strategic anchors of Progressive
Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA): excellence, opportunities, and holistic care. PASA is a
private international school in Southeast Asia with students from preschool through grade 12.
The ECC has four preschool classes (ages three to four) and seven pre-kindergarten classes (ages
four to five). Two classes of 16 children are situated in six learning hubs; there are a total of 32
students, two teachers, and two instructional assistants (IAs) in each hub. As part of a research
and development process at PASA, the ECC adopted a Reggio Emilia inspired learning
environment. In order to explore which frameworks of Reggio inspiration are currently being
applied in the ECC and which frameworks might need further consideration, the following
research questions were used:
1. What are the underlying assumptions of Reggio inspiration that are used in the Early
Childhood Center at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia?
2. How are these assumptions and frameworks being implemented in the day-to-day
application of the Reggio approach in the ECC at PASA?
3. How could practices be improved upon in the ECC at PASA in order to reach the 2020
strategic focuses of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care?
Qualitative methods were used to gather data from a purposeful sampling of teachers and
IAs. Focus groups were used to determine underlying assumptions about the Reggio frameworks
applied in the ECC. Observations and individual interviews helped to determine the day-to-day
use of these frameworks and potential next steps for the ECC. After each phase of the study, data
were transcribed and coded using the theoretical framework for this study. The theoretical
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framework for the study shifted in response to the analyzed data. In the end, there were nine
frameworks of Reggio inspired work, outlined in the findings section of this study.
Summary of Findings
An analysis of the qualitative data helped to illustrate the Reggio inspired frameworks
that are valued and applied in the day-to-day life of the ECC at the time of this study. The data
also helped to determine practices that can be improved upon in order for the ECC to reach the
strategic goals of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care. Four themes emerged from the data
that illustrate current practices and areas for growth: (a) there are six areas of alignment between
participant perceptions of the Reggio inspired frameworks in the ECC at PASA, and their day-to-
day practices of that work; (b) concept-based learning is one potential area for growth in teacher
and IA Reggio inspired practice; (c) IAs experience inequities in their work in the ECC that limit
their capacity as Reggio inspired educators; and (d) inclusive education is a potential area for
policy reform at PASA. These findings will be further examined in relation to associated
literature in this section.
The first finding asserts that, of the nine identified frameworks of Reggio inspiration
valued by teachers and IAs in the ECC, six frameworks align both in teacher and IA perception
and in their day-to-day practice of the frameworks. These six areas included: (a) documentation
of children’s work; (b) the ECC as a learning organization; (c) using space as the third teacher;
(d) the hundred languages of children; (e) relationships; and (f) valuing the image of the child as
a capable learner. In their model for institutional improvement, Clark and Estes (2008) assert
that, in order to understand how to close the gap between where an organization is and where it
wants to be (its goal), it is necessary to fully understand the current situation with employees’
knowledge, employees’ motivation, and organizational barriers to their improvement. Likewise,
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Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) explain that once gaps in knowledge, motivation, and
organizational barriers have been assessed, there are clear steps that an institution can take in
order to reach its goals of self-improvement. PASA, as an organization, adopted Reggio inspired
frameworks in the ECC in order to reach its 2020 goals in excellence, opportunities, and holistic
care. The six frameworks in this finding act as a current strengths-based assessment from which
PASA can move forward in its work. Data suggested that the importance of relationships (as a
framework) has always been valued in the ECC; Reggio inspiration may not have impacted this
framework. In an effort to shift philosophical thinking from a more traditional perspective to the
Reggio inspired perspective within the past four years, PASA has put a tremendous amount of
resources into professional development for teachers, including funding trips to Reggio Emilia,
Italy to see the learning in action, as well as biannual visits from a regionally-based Reggio
consultant. Data suggested that this professional development (supporting the framework of the
ECC as a learning organization) helped to align philosophy and practice in the areas of
documentation of children’s work, changing learning environments so the space can act as the
third teacher, seeing children as strong and capable learners, and valuing the hundreds of ways
(through materials and expression) that children can learn. As evidenced in the data, there is a
strong base from which these frameworks will grow naturally at this point (without targeted
professional development).
The second finding claims that concept-based learning is one potential area for growth in
the teacher and IA Reggio inspired practice in the ECC. Data revealed that there were 26
concepts being studied in different hubs at one time, and this number likely fluctuates throughout
the year. Erickson et al. (2017) explain that, in order for children to think conceptually, teachers
must also have the ability to “think critically, reflectively, creatively, and conceptually” as well
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(p. 25). Currently in the ECC, this work is done in isolation, hub by hub. There are four shared
“conceptual lenses,” but these are so vast that there is little shared planning done with all
teachers around any one concept. Rinaldi (2006) explains that in progettazione, the conceptually-
based project work of the municipal schools in Reggio Emilia, there is a “dynamic process, a
journey that involves the uncertainty and chance that always arises” through co-construction of
ideas between teachers and children (p. 19). Rinaldi (2006) explains that, while teachers have a
conceptual base, they do not have project “outcomes” specifically in mind, and they listen to the
direction of the children. Erickson et al. (2017) write that teachers can share the same enduring
understandings of a concept-based study, but that the topic or context through which children
study the concept can vary from classroom to classroom. Teachers and IAs might find that, if the
ECC developed a study based on the same shared concepts and enduring understandings, each
hub could explore this concept through different contexts. Each group of children would take the
study in different directions, but teachers would be better able to collaborate and help one
another see new angles in the study.
The third finding asserts that instructional assistants (IAs) experience inequities in their
work in the ECC that limits their capacity as Reggio inspired educators. Freire (2018) advocates
that change for an underrepresented group should be made hand-in-hand with that group of
people. Freire (2018) explains that changes made together are more readily enacted and more
effective than changes made for a group of people by those with more power in the situation.
Atwood and López (2014) explain that people are “constantly swimming in a world of policy”
that is both visible to some and invisible to others, and that shapes how people view their world
and their circumstances (p. 1136). There are policies in the ECC that are practiced without
question for those they are benefitting and those they are potentially hurting. There is
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opportunity to work hand-in-hand with IAs to improve circumstances in four areas, including (a)
professional development for IAs; (b) being mindful of inclusive practices around food, which is
cited in the data as a powerful cultural language for IAs; (c) providing spaces for eating and
materials preparation that feel equitable and inclusive for both IAs and teachers and (d) opening
clear lines of communication between administration, teachers, and IAs (p. 134). By coming
together to make changes in these policies and practices, unforeseen benefits for work culture
and for children in the ECC could occur.
The fourth finding highlights that inclusive education is a potential area for policy reform
at PASA. Educators in the early childhood municipal schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy have
worked for many years to make their educational practices fully inclusive (Cagliari et al., 2016;
Soncini, 2012). One way that they do this is to prioritize entrance into the schools for children
with physical or learning disabilities, or “special rights,” as they say in Reggio (Soncini, 2012).
In addition, the schools provide an additional teacher or assistant teacher in each class that
includes a child with special rights. Lastly, they invite families in to be a part of the life of the
school and to understand their child in new ways (Rinaldi, 2006; Soncini, 2012). PASA does not
currently have policies to support work with children with disabilities in these ways, but the
potential is there, should the school wish to change their policies. Inclusive environments, when
implemented well, provide opportunities and benefits for all children, and can help teachers to
grow as professionals (Cagliari et al., 2016; Soncini, 2012).
Implications for Practice
This study focused on the frameworks of Reggio inspired education valued and applied in
the ECC at PASA, as well as areas for possible growth towards the 2020 strategic goals of
excellence, opportunities and holistic care. Clark and Estes (2008) explain that, when an
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organization has set goals, it must then evaluate gaps in staff knowledge, motivation, and
organizational barriers in order to better achieve these goals. Prior to this study, there has not
been a formal formative assessment in the ECC, as Reggio inspired learning is not a “program”
with clear target goals to work towards. As a result of this study’s data and analysis, four
implications could be applied to practice in the ECC, including: (a) Reggio inspired frameworks
that are strengths at this time should be used as a foundational base for all other areas of growth;
(b) concept-based work should be narrowed and further developed with teachers and IAs in the
ECC; (c) there are four identified ways to help improve working conditions for IAs in the ECC;
and (d) policies for inclusive education could be further examined at PASA.
One key to achieving goals within an organization is to identify areas of strength and
gaps that need to be addressed in achieving the goals (Clark & Estes, 2008; Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016). The first implication for this study is that the ECC has a strong base through
which to achieve the goals of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care by the year 2020.
Tireless work on the part of administrators, teachers, and IAs through professional development
and numerous structural, philosophical and policy changes have created a strong foundation in
six of the nine identified Reggio inspired frameworks in the ECC. The teachers and IAs have
strong philosophical and day-to-day practices in terms of: (a) helping children navigate
relationships; (b) documenting children’s work and sharing that back with the community; (c)
using space to help children grow and take ownership of their learning; (d) allowing children to
express themselves in many ways through the space and materials available to them; (e) valuing
children as strong, independent and capable learners who can co-construct learning; and (f)
continually looking to improve themselves as teacher researchers in a learning organization.
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These areas of strength should be considered in relation to the three following implications,
which include areas for growth.
The second implication focuses on gaps in the participant knowledge-base and ECC
organizational structures as they pertain to concept-based learning. This implication is important
for teachers in the ECC, as it holds the potential to greatly impact teaching and learning in their
classrooms. Erickson et al. (2017) define macroconcepts as concepts that “are broad and can
encompass many different examples,” such as “change” or “patterns” (p. 46). Erickson et al.
(2017) assert that “enduring understandings” are formed when students integrate thinking by
connecting different topics and facts through the lens of macroconcepts (p. 16). In the Reggio
Emilia municipal schools, there is often one or two macroconcepts guiding the work of the entire
network of schools (Edwards et al., 2011). These macroconcepts help guide work into enduring
understandings, although the work looks very different in each school, as it is co-constructed
with students (Forman, 2012; Forman & Fyfe, 2012). Currently, in the ECC at PASA, there are
four over-arching macroconcepts used as a foundation for all hub learning: (a) environment; (b)
symbolic language; (c) community; and (d) identity. In the four months during which this study
took place, 22 other microconcepts stemmed from these four macroconcepts in the different
hubs. While this might appear to offer teachers more autonomy, in practice it seems to limit the
concept-based work that is happening in hubs. Data suggested that several teachers ended up in
one of two scenarios. In the first, they saw every subject a child brought up as a new possible
direction for concept-based work. The resulting studies stemmed in many different directions;
they seemed to lose focus and children may not have come away with enduring understandings
of key concepts. In the second scenario, teachers focused on a topic instead of a concept, and
then worked to tie concepts back to the topic. After the topic had been covered, teachers reported
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feeling that the study needed to end because there was nowhere else to go with it. By choosing
one or two macroconcepts and two to three potential enduring understandings for all of the hubs
(or separate areas of study for preschool and pre-K) teacher collaboration could increase around
the shared concepts. Planning practices around concept-based learning could evolve as a whole
group instead of separately in each hub. This would allow for an increase in the shared
knowledge about each concept, and the sharing of ideas for possible next steps in the co-
constructed studies. While topics of study could look very different in each hub, the same
macroconcepts and enduring understandings would flow through all of the hubs.
The third implication addresses the needs of instructional assistants in the ECC. There are
areas where teachers have been provided opportunities for growth that have not been afforded to
the IAs. This limits their capacity for growth in their practices with children. When there is
perceived favoritism for one group over another, organizations can inadvertently create in-group
and out-group biases (Brewer, 1979, 2007). IAs are currently sensitive to organizational benefits
that are afforded to teachers, but not to them. IAs helped to identify four areas that could
substantially change their feelings about their work environment: (a) including IAs in the
professional development opportunities offered to teachers, or providing other consistent
opportunities for growth (which might include a lending library with key readings on Reggio and
concept-based learning); (b) being mindful of inclusive practices around food, including offering
equal access to food provided for events, and continuing to provide Halal options; (c) providing
spaces for eating and materials preparation that feel equitable and inclusive for both IAs and
teachers, including the possibility of eating inside the classrooms; and (d) opening clear lines of
communication between administration, teachers, and IAs; when teachers receive information,
IAs feel they are capable of also processing that information at the same time, and could be
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included in important announcements that go directly to teachers. Some of these suggestions
would require small changes that could easily be altered for long-term benefits to the
organization. Others, like professional development opportunities, would require further
consideration and rearrangement of current organizational policies at PASA.
The fourth implication acknowledges the possibilities for growth for inclusive education
at PASA. There are current organizational barriers that would need to be addressed in order to
achieve a more inclusive environment. Data analyzed from this study identify three areas of
organizational change that would need to be addressed. The first would be a shift from current
practices of not admitting students to the school through the “optimal admissions” policies. The
second would be a willingness to make structural modifications necessary to include children
with physical and certain learning disabilities, or to create universally designed spaces in which
modifications would not be as necessary (Mace, 1997; Skulski, 2007; Soncini, 2012). The third
would be to provide targeted supports for teachers and IAs working with children with special
rights (Soncini, 2012). These are, in a sense, philosophical changes that the school would have to
adopt in order to shift its policies.
Future Research
The data for this study of Reggio frameworks and application in the ECC at PASA
focused on teacher and IA perspectives. Data analysis suggests actions that would need to be
taken by administrators for potential improvements. However, no data were gathered from the
administration in the organization to better understand their perspective on areas of improvement
and current circumstances. To better understand how Reggio frameworks are implemented in an
organization, further research is needed to assess the leadership perspective. Each context for a
Reggio inspired environment is unique, but in Reggio Emilia, the municipal schools do not have
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on-site administrators as a part of their school structures (Cagliari et al., 2012). They instead
have pedagogical coordinators who work between the different school sites (Cagliari et al.,
2012). Further research could assess ways in which Reggio inspired schools with on-site
administration develop and implement values and frameworks.
Conclusion
Early childhood education (ECE) acts as a societal investment in young learners, and can
provide potential long-term gains for students in school achievement, high school graduation
rates, reduced involvement in crime, and reduced mortality rates (Barnett, 1995; Deming, 2009;
Lee et al., 2014). However, quality of early childhood programming varies, as does opinion on
what is best for young learners (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 1999). Many program directors and
educators have turned to the municipal schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy and their innovative
model of ECE for inspiration in this pedagogical debate (Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1993;
Krechevsky, Mardell, Rivard, & Wilson, 2013). Reggio schools provide an example of ECE that
acts as a forum between adults and young children (Dahlberg et al., 1999). While Reggio schools
do not offer a “program” that can be utilized, they do provide certain “frameworks” or “values”
that educators can adapt to their own ECE setting (Rinaldi, 2006). Applying these values and
frameworks to different ECE settings could prove transformational to early childhood learning
around the world.
This study examined the frameworks and values applied in an international early
childhood center in Southeast Asia. With four years of targeted professional development and the
use of ample resources, Pacific Academy of Southeast Asia has transformed a once traditionally-
minded ECE program through inspiration from the municipal schools of Reggio Emilia. Many
Reggio inspired frameworks applied in the ECC at PASA have taken root as an integral part of
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day-to-day educational practices, while other frameworks are continuing to develop and evolve.
Further research is needed to assess how school leaders interpret and apply Reggio inspired
frameworks in their settings, to ensure that Reggio inspiration does not become a label, but rather
a way of being.

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Appendix A

Individual Interview Guide for Teachers

Introduction
Thank you for joining me today for this interview. I really value your ideas, and appreciate you taking the
time to share them. In order to stay true to what you tell me in the interview, I would like to record on this
audio recording device. Are you okay with that? Thank you!

I am in the final phase of this study and want to ask some questions that will help to clarify certain aspects
of your work and the other work I have seen in the ECC. The first part of the interview will ask about
your most recent work (which I have not been able to observe).
Recent Work in the Classroom
• What choices are currently available for kids to explore during flow time or exploration time?
• How do you support their learning during exploration time?
• What does planning (daily or long-term) look like for you and your team?
Thank you for helping to paint a picture of what is happening currently in the classroom. During one of
the PLCs I observed a discussion centered around concept-based learning. The next questions will focus
on that work.
Excellence
• There are lots of ways of describing Reggio-inspired practices, and it seems like there is some
overlap. What is your perspective of the similarities or differences between inquiry-based
learning, concept-based learning, and emergent curriculum?
• What role (if any) does planning for concept-based learning look like in your hub?
• In what ways (if any) has professional development influenced your teaching?

If she references concept-based prior to this:
• What role (if any) does documentation play in your concept-based work?
• In what way (if any) is the learning journey a part of this documentation?
Opportunities [in Inquiry]
• What are your thoughts on the relationship between prior knowledge and new wonderings in
inquiry?
• What role (if any) do you think the teacher plays in extending children’s thinking in inquiry?
• [Follow up question: Is there an example you could give to illustrate this in your classroom?]
• What strategies (if any) do you use as an inquiry teacher to sustain interest in a topic?
Holistic Care
• In what ways (if any) do you bring all children into the concept-based learning?
• In what ways (if any) do you invite all children into the inquiry process?
Thank you for talking with me today! Your ideas are invaluable to this study. I may come to you to
ask clarifying questions after I transcribe the interview, just to make sure I accurately represent your
ideas.
IMPLEMENTATION OF A REGGIO INSPIRED APPROACH

161
Appendix B

Individual Interview Guide for Instructional Assistants

Introduction
Thank you for joining me today for this interview. I really value your ideas, and appreciate you taking the
time to share them. In order to stay true to what you tell me in the interview, I would like to record on this
audio recording device. Are you okay with that? Thank you!

I am in the final phase of this study and want to ask some questions that will help to clarify certain aspects
of your work and the other work I have seen in the ECC. The first part of the interview will ask about your
most recent work (which I have not been able to observe).
Recent Work in the Classroom
• What choices are currently available for kids to explore during flow time or exploration time?
• How do you support their learning during exploration time?
• What does daily planning look like for you and your team?
Thank you for helping to paint a picture of what is happening currently in the classroom.
Excellence
• In PLCs, teachers have been discussing concepts and concept-based learning. In what ways (if
any) have IAs been a part of the work on concepts?
In the focus group, you talked about excellence as an investment in people’s skills (like with
professional development).
• In what ways (if any) has PASA helped you develop your skills as an IA in the past year?
• Could you describe (if anything were possible) what the ideal professional development would
look like for instructional assistants (in one school year)?
Opportunities
• Tell me about your role as an instructional assistant in a Reggio Inspired classroom.
In the focus group, more than one IA stated that IAs are treated differently than teachers at PASA.
• Have you seen or experienced a time when IAs were treated differently than teachers?
• [If yes] Tell me about a time (if you recall any) when an IAs were treated differently than teachers.
• What was it like for you when that happened?
• Could you describe (if anything were possible) what it would be like to be an IA at PASA in an
ideal future?
Holistic Care
• What changes could administrators make at PASA to make a big difference in your daily work
life?
• What changes could teachers make at PASA to make a big difference in your daily work life?
• How might these changes impact your work with the children?
Thank you for talking with me today! Your ideas are invaluable to this study. I may come to you to ask
clarifying questions after I transcribe the interview, just to make sure I accurately represent your ideas.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This study outlines essential frameworks of Reggio inspiration based on literature from the Educational Project of Reggio Emilia. The purpose of this study was to determine which Reggio inspired frameworks were valued and applied by teachers and instructional assistants (IAs) in the Early Childhood Center (ECC) at the Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA). The study also sought to provide feedback for educators in the ECC, now four years into the adoption of Reggio inspired values, as they work towards PASA’s 2020 strategic goals of excellence, opportunities, and holistic care. Focus groups, observations, and interviews were conducted with ECC teachers and IAs as a part of a qualitative research design. Transcripts were coded for key words and phrases. Four themes emerged from the study: (1) there are six areas of alignment between participant perceptions of the Reggio inspired frameworks in the ECC at PASA, and their day-to-day practices of that work

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Asset Metadata

Creator Bokaer, Lauren H. (author)

Core Title Implementation of a Reggio inspired approach at the progressive academy of Southeast Asia's Early Childhood Center

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 07/29/2018

Defense Date 05/24/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Early childhood,frameworks,international schools,OAI-PMH Harvest,Reggio Emilia

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Picus, Lawrence (committee chair), Chung, Ruth (committee member), Green, Alan (committee member)

Creator Email bokaer@usc.edu,lauren.bokaer@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-38540

Unique identifier UC11672462

Identifier etd-BokaerLaur-6556.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-38540 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-BokaerLaur-6556.pdf

Dmrecord 38540

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Bokaer, Lauren H.

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Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

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